My Trysts With Life

The last rays of the sun were shimmering on the lake- the twinkling of the water creating a grand display of nature’s magic. In any other place, this time of the day is accompanied by the chirping of birds, returning home after a hectic day. However, the forest was astonishingly silent- as if someone had deliberately turned the volume down. Birds were flying, hurriedly, heads down, as if under the watch of an admiral.  Vibhandak was completing his daily ritual. After 2 hours of meditation, 108 chants of the Mahamrityunjaya mantra (a verse from the Rig Veda, addressing “the Three-eyed One” ), and glaring at the clouds (the land of Indra) for as long as his eyes could go on, without blinking. Ritual completed, Vibhandak walked briskly to the only thing that gave him happiness- the innocent “deer horned” Rishyasringa, his son. Blissfully aware of any distractions since birth, Rishyasringa was gradually surpassing even Vibhandak in terms of ascetic powers. He knew that Rishyasringa w...

The world is aware of the great Indian epics-Ramayana and Mahabharata. The stories have umpteen examples on how to go about living life, Dharma (loosely law and order), Tyag (sacrifice), and above all, Karma (actions). I happened to stumble around a slightly lesser-known story from the same era- the message from which has become very important now, is that of Rishyasringa, and code set by his father, Vibhandak. Rishi Vibhandak was a sage of Kashyap lineage, who, in search of self-realization started doing penance and meditation from a very early age. His unending penance gradually brought him superhuman powers, much to the chagrin of the Lord Indra (king of heavens). Fearing Vibhandak can usurp heaven with his powers, Indra sent Urvashi to distract Vibhadak and end his meditation. Urvashi was able to break Vibhandak’s meditation by chanting Vedic mantras- and asked Vibhandak for bearing a son with her, threatening to commit suicide otherwise. Vibhandak, not wanting to be the cause of d...