The Burning of the Khandava Forest…

Hi there!!! Today's story is from the Mahabharata. It's about the Lord of Fire, Agni, and how he burnt a whole forest with the help of Arjuna and Krishna. Let's go…

The Kauravas and the Pandavas were at loggerheads since they were little kids, and the enmity only increased with their age. Their granduncle, Bheeshma, knew that when Yudhistira became king, there would be a big fight, because of Duryodhana's arrogance. So, he tried preventing it by giving an order, " The Kingdom of Hastinapur shall be divided in half, for both - the Pandavas and the Kauravas - to rule." Duryodhana's father and the blind king of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra, saw this as an opportunity to give his eldest son a small win, seeing that the Pandavas had defeated him in everything. "I agree, Uncleji. You are correct. The Kauravas shall rule the city and surrounding areas of Hastinapur, whereas the Pandavas… they shall rule the barren side of Khandavaprastha," Duryodhana ran up to his father, embracing him and exclaiming, "You have done us a good deed, Father. I am thankful to you," His father groped around and embraced him. The Pandavas were in dejection, for they had been given a huge forest to rule. Plus, there were many different threats in the forest - there were snakes and celestial beings too. They could wipe out the Pandavas in seconds!! Or so they thought…

The Pandavas and their mother, Kunti, made their way to the monstrous land of Khandavaprastha.
Seeing the endless stretch of trees and wildlife, the Pandavas concluded that they couldn't make a city out of it.
They cleared a few trees and set up a small city, which was named Indraprastha. Many of the Pandavas' followers flooded in, but Arjuna sent many of them back to Hastinapur, for the population would be far too dense. Their citizens lived in harmony, despite being surrounded by a mega-forest.
One day, an old man walked into the palace and called for Arjuna.
Arjuna came to the entrance of the palace and asked the old man, "Hello, my kind sir. What service may we be of?" Suddenly, the old man turned into the God of Fire, Agni. Arjuna bowed down to him. As he bowed down, Krishna spotted him and came pacing to the meeting. He said, "Hello, Agni. What brings you to Indraprastha?" Agni said, "Hello, Krishna. I have come for food." Krishna was confused, "But, don't you get your food from all of the poojas and yajnas?" Agni replied, "I get my food from yajnas, yes. People all around the world conduct yajnas, and henceforth I am forced to overeat. Now, I have a case of indigestion. My tummy has started hurting very badly. When I went to Bramha for a diagnosis, and he concluded that I needed some herbal medicines. I would like to burn up the whole forest, please. Will you help me?" Krishna glanced at Arjuna, who stated, "I must serve anyone in need. We shall allow you to burn up our forest."

But, Agni hesitated, "Indra's friend, Takshaka, the King of Snakes, lives in these woods. Whenever I try to burn this forest, Indra sends down pouring rains. I need protection from him. Whatever you want, I shall give. But, just help me cure my ailment," Arjuna asked Agni, "We shall help you. But, I would like a chariot that can move as fast as my thoughts and an invincible bow," Agni replied, "I shall bestow upon you my chariot. I shall give you Lord Varuna's bow, the Gandiva. It was created by Bramha and made from the sacred Gandi tree. Here you go," The chariot and bow flew down to Earth, with golden armour fit for Krishna and Arjuna kept in it. A celestial mace was given to Krishna.
Together, the trio went to a secluded part of the forest and let Agni burn it down.

Soon, news reached Indra, who tried pouring heavy rains down onto the trees. But, Arjuna shot so many arrows into the sky, that it covered the whole forest in a magical cover. Indra used his thunderbolt, the vajrayudha, and tried to break the wall. But to no avail - Arjuna's arrows were just too strong for him to break alone. So, he called upon some of his godly friends - Dharmaraya Yama, the God of Justice and Death, Kubera, the God of Money and Wealth, and Varuna, the God of Water. They descended to Earth and battled with Arjuna and Krishna.

The battle, with Arjuna and Krishna on one side and the gods on the other, was fierce. Still, the two cousins retained the upper hand.

Takshaka had been in Kurukshetra, so he didn't know what was happening in his home. But, his wife and son, Avasena, were trying to escape. When Arjuna saw this, he chopped off Takshaka's wife's head. Avasena slid off, cursing his mother's luck.

Mayasura, the architect of the asuras, was also stuck in the flames. Indra's thunderbolt had tried to pierce him into pieces, but Krishna saved him. 

Soon, the forest had been reduced to ashes. Indra retreated to Vaikunta, regretting his friend's fate. His friends went back to their respective abodes, too.

Mayasura ran to Arjuna and Krishna and said, "Thanks for saving me. I shall build you the most fabulous palace ever. It shall be the most fortified, but calm-looking castle the world has ever seen." So, Mayasura built them an amazing palace - with an additional bonus - He built a mega-city for them!!! Nearly the whole population of Hastinapur left and came to the new Indraprastha!!! Duryodhana was furious!!! He vowed to get revenge against his cousins.

Agni thanked Arjuna and Krishna, "Thank you. You two have cured me of my tummy ache. These weapons are yours to keep. Don't worry about them. Whenever you need help, rest assured, I shall be there for you."

From that day on, Arjuna was known as Gandiva Dhari or Gandivi. He used the same chariot and weapon in the great Kurukshetra War.

Meanwhile, Takshaka heard about his family's plight and vowed to take revenge. 

Thus, Arjuna and Krishna helped Agni cure his ailment.

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The Story of the Elephant and the Crocodile

Hi!!!! Today's story is called the Gajendra Moksha and was narrated to the Grandson of the Pandavas, Emperor Parikshit. It was narrated by the son of Vedavyasa and Parikshit's great-grandfather, Shuka. It is about an elephant called Gajendra (the king of the elephants) and how he was saved by Lord Vishnu. Let's go…

There once lived a great king called Indradyumna. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu.
One day, sage Agastya, one of the saptarishi, came to visit King Indradyumna on a scorching summer's day. He walked into the golden palace and saw that Indradyumna had closed his eyes and sat on his throne. He didn't realise that Indradyumna was actually asleep!!!! Agastya thought that Indradyumna had paid no heed to him, so he shouted, "INDRADYUMNA!!!!! HAVE YOU NOT ACKNOWLEDGED THAT I STAND IN YOUR PRESENCE?!?!" Indradyumna woke up with a start and said, " Oh Maharishi, please accept my-" But, Agastya interrupted him, "I CURSE YOU!!!!! IN YOUR NEXT LIFE, MAY YOU BE BORN AS AN ELEPHANT!!!!!!!" So, Agastya stormed out of the palace, leaving Indradyumna to wallow in self-pity.
Meanwhile, on another side of the country, a gandharva was swimming in a pool with his family. Sage Devala was passing by when the gandharva splashed some water onto him, just for fun. Devala was enraged!!!!! He shouted, "YOU FOOLISH GANDHARVA!!!! HOW INSOLENT ARE YOU?!?!?!? IN YOUR NEXT LIFE, YOU SHALL BE BORN AS A CROCODILE!!!! THEN, YOU MAY SPLASH WATER ON OTHER BEINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and stomped off, leaving the gandharva and his family to squander in despondency.

Time passed. Indradyumna and the gandharva were both born as the elephant and the crocodile. Their fates had been sealed.
As time went by, Indradyumna ascended to the throne. But, it wasn't the throne he sat on in his previous life. He became the King of the Elephants. He led his huge tribe down waterways and forests, until they reached a huge lake. It had frolicking fish and dancing doves, brilliant birds and brave bugs, all living life to the fullest.
Gajendra and his troupe settled down over there. They lived their lives very piously.
One day, Gajendra's tribe had gone out of the waters to look for bananas and let him dance in the water. But, it took a turn for the worse.
Suddenly, a crocodile pounced onto Gajendra's leg and tried to rip off his foot!!! The crocodile was none other than the cursed gandharva, who had forgotten everything of his past life. He bit into the grey, leathery skin of Gajendra. He roared in pain and tried to whack the crocodile off. But it wouldn't budge!!! It had latched itself onto Gajendra, who tried in vain to kill the crocodile.
Hearing his pleas, Gajendra's tribe came rushing back and tried to help him. But to no avail!!! When they realised that death had come close to Gajendra, they left him alone. They realised that Gajendra would not be able to survive, even with their help. They left him and continued travelling, making Gajendra fight his own war.

Days passed. Gajendra hadn't the slightest bit of hope, but he still tried to vanquish the crocodile. But, the crocodile had no sign of stopping. It wanted a feast - elephant for dinner. Gajendra knew that the crocodile wouldn't give up, but he too didn't give up. He wanted to fight for his life. But, the crocodile had the upper hand (well, claw).
Gajendra trumpeted in pain and helplessness until he was hoarse. As the struggle was seemingly endless and when he had spent his last drop of energy, Gajendra remembered his past life and called upon his deity, Lord Vishnu, to come save him. He held a lotus up in offering and prayed to Lord Vishnu.
Hearing his devotee's earnest calls, Vishnu rushed to the scene. He saw the plight that Gajendra was in and helped him out. He threw the Sudarshan Chakra at the crocodile and chopped his head off. KKKCCCHHHAAAKKK!!!!!! Gajendra bowed down to Lord Vishnu, who saw him die. He proclaimed, "Hello, Gajendra. You have proved to be the best of devotees. Come with me," Vishnu lifted Gajendra up into the sky, and as they got higher, Gajendra's body soon fell down to the Earth. His soul, which was in the form of Indradyumna, clutched on to Vishnu, as they flew to heaven.

Thus, Vishnu gave Gajendra moksha, or enlightenment, and saved his devotee.

The story is symbolic of Vishnu’s readiness to save mankind, just as he saved the elephant from the jaws of the crocodile. In the moment of our utter surrender, Vishnu rushes to our aid, destroys death, and liberates our souls.

Fun Fact Nº 1: This story is said to have taken place in Tirupati, on the Tirumala Hills.

Fun Fact Nº 2; While flying to Heaven, Gajendra composed a shloka about Vishnu. This shloka is very famed and is called the Gajendra Stuti. Here it is:

ಶುಕ್ಲಾಮ್ ಭರಧರಂ ವಿಷ್ಣುಮ್ ಶಶಿ ವರಣಂ ಚತುರ್ಭುಜಂ ।

ಪ್ರಸನ್ನ ವದನಂ ಧ್ಯಾಯೇತ್ ಸರ್ವ ವಿಗ್ನೋಪಾ ಶಾಂತಯೇ ।।

शुक्लाम बाराधरम विष्णुम शशि वरणम चतुर्भुजम् ।

प्रसन्न वदनाम् ध्यायेत् सर्व विघ्नोप शन्थये ।।

 śuklāṃbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ śaśi varṇaṃ caturbhujaṃ |

prasanna vadanaṃ dhyāyēta sarva vighnōpaśāntayē ||

(Not to be confused with the one dedicated to Lord Ganesha)

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