Krishna vishwaroopam vishnu
13. According to ancient legend, Sagara is a famous king of the Suryavansha dynasty and ruled the Vidarbha region, which is the present day Nagpur, Maharashtra and he was mentioned in ancient texts and in Mahabharata. He ruled his kingdom in a proper manner, and gave a golden rule during his period. Lord Rama and the great king Sri Harichandra were born in the Suryavansha dynasty. Once, King Sagara performed a Horse Yagna in order to increase his powers. After knowing about it, Lord Indra had stolen the horse and he tied the horse at the ashram of Kapila, who was in deep penance. King Sagar’s sons were searched and found the horse at Sri Kapila Bhagavan’s ashram. And they thought he had stolen it, and prepared to attack the sage. Kapila opened his eyes, and fire formed from his eyes and all the sons of Sagara were immediately burnt into ashes. Later on their descendant, Bhagiratha prayed to Mata Ganga and brought her into the earth, and by spraying the holy water of river Ganga in the ashes, his forefathers were reached to the heaven.
14. As per ancient legend, Devayani was born to Guru Shukracharya, and Jayanti, daughter of Lord Indra. Shukracharya is the demon guru, he is the god of Friday, and he is the planet Venus. She was considered as a very noble, pious and a chaste woman. She was married to Yayati, who was the son of Lord Nahusha and Goddess AshokaSundari, and they had two children. Sharmishtha was a noble demon princess, and she was the daughter of the demon king Vrishparva. Shukracharya was the guru for Vrishparva.
Due to a small clash between Sharmishtha and Devayani, Sharmishta had become the personal attendant of Devayani. Once when Yayati saw Sharmishta, he began to love her, and in course of time, both of them united and they had three children. When Devayani knows about the relationship between Sharmishta and Yayati, she informed to her father about their affair.
Shukracharya had become very angry with Yayati and cursed him to become an old aged man. After repeated request made by Yayati, Guru Shukra felt pity on Yayati and asked him to transfer his old age to his son Puru for a few years. His mighty son Puru has agreed for that. In course of time, Yayati was disinterested in leading a family life, and hence he gave back his youth to his son Puru, and took back his old age, went to the forest and done meditation on Lord Shiva, and attained salvation.
15. Rantideva is an ancient king who has attained salvation due to the grace of Lord Vishnu, he was the ruler of the Bharata Dynasty and he was very generous and a kind hearted king, who believes that god dwells even in a small dust particle, like the great Prahalada, and he has proved it also in front of the Divine Devas. He was mentioned in the Mahabharata, as a great warrior and he showed great interest in performing Yajnas (fire rituals) on the banks of the holy Rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna and Narmada.
Ranti Deva looks similar to the beautiful Kama Deva, the god of love, and he was an able ruler. He kept great faith on god, and when he was tested by Lord Indra and other Devas with regard to his bhakti, he showed his selfless bhakti before them, and decided to self-immolate himself in the fire by chanting the names of Lord Vishnu. And to the surprise of everyone, Lord Agni Deva didn’t burn him into ashes, but appreciated his staunch faith on Lord Vishnu, and blessed him to become more powerful and beautiful. Rantideva showed his great bhakti on Lord Vishnu to the entire world, similar to the Bhagavathas like Dhruva and Prahalada.
“OM”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR