Sunday Story(Updated on pg 26) - Page 10

It seems that Jin was not a mean enemy and Kalki did not have a smooth ride either and had his moments of ups and downs. Of course this is what is expected if a western force confronts the mighty Chinese army, the biggest in the world in terms of numbers. Soon,

Garga (associate of Kalki) and his army killed 6000 Buddhist soldiers.

Bharga and his soldiers killed and injured 11 million enemy soldiers and his mighty allies killed 2500 of them.

Kobi along with his sons killed 2 million enemy soldiers,

Pragya killed 1 million and Sumantu killed 5 million soldiers.

It seems that Kalki and his allies kill or injure an army which is almost 20 million strong. An army of this huge proportions can only be assembled by a country like China and its allies. Thus, the attack on the city of Kikatpur does not merely represent an attack on a city but on a country, probably in alliance with others.

Soon Kalki smiled and said unto Jin - O Sinner ! Don't flee but come and face me...Soon your body will be pierced with my arrows. Soon you shall depart from this world. Then, no one will go along with you. So, you and your allies surrender before me.

On hearing the words of Kalki, mighty Jin said "The fate can never be seen. I am a materialist, Buddhist. Nothing but the perceptible are accepted by us. The unseen and the imperceptible are banished by us. Hence your effort is fruitless. Even if you are Godly, I am before you; see if you manage to kill me. In that event, will the Buddhists forgive you?

Hearing these words of Kalki, the infidel-women smiled and said - "Sir ! When our husbands died in your hand, we too have died". Saying this, the women prepared to kill Kalki.

All such attempts of eulogizing femininity by Kalki cut no ice with the women. At this point of time however, a miracle happened which persuaded the women from fighting Kalki :

However the weapons remained in their hands. The various weapons metamorphosed and stood before the infidel-women decorated in gold and said "Ladies! Do ye know Kalki as the Supreme God, empowered by whom we take the lives of living beings. Have confidence in our words. On His command we propagate and on his glory we have attained various forms and by His mercy we have become renowned. By His empowerment does the five elements carry out their own actions. He is the Supreme Being Himself. Under His wishes has the nature created the whole Universe. The creation and the continuity of the creation is nothing but His action. He is the Beginning and the End, from Him arise all the holy things in the world. It is He, who is our husband, our wife, son, friend and relative. From Him comes forth all these illusion-like happenings. Those who know that life and death are nothing but coming and going under the influence of love, affection and fondness, those who are devoid of any feelings of anger and hate, who are the devotees of Kalki, they know the above illusion-like happenings as false. How was Time created? Where does death come from? Who is Yama (Death incarnate and lord of the underworld)? Who are the Gods? By His illusion, it is Kalki who has become many. O Ladies! We are not weapons and no one gets hurt by us. He is the weapon and it is he who hits. These distinctions are nothing but the illusion (Maya) created by the Supreme Being. ...We cannot hit the devotees of Kalki.

Hearing the words of the weapons, the women were surprised. They shed their illusion of attachment and came to seek Kalki.

Thus, Kalki, surrounded by his allies set out for the desired place for conquering the infidels like Khasha, Kamboja, Sabara, Barbarians etc. ... The people who lived there carry out the orders of women. Hearing that Kalki has come for battle, the angry Koli, along with his allies, sons and grandsons came riding on a chariot out of the city of Bishasan. On seeing Koli, Kalki ordered his followers to engage in battle with him.

Lord Kalki, along with his soldiers armed with various types of weapons engaged in war with Koka and Bikok/Vikok. These two brothers are supreme demons, great fanatics and adept in the art of war. These brothers are intimately connected, powerful, hard to defeat and are even feared by the Gods.

Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa (India), was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.

The sage asked the king the purpose of his observing the fast. King Chitrabhanu explained that he had a gift of remembering the incidents of his past birth, and in his previous life he had been a hunter inVaranasi and his name was Suswara. His only livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. The day before the new moon, while roaming through forests in search of animals, he saw a deer, but before his arrow flew he noticed the deer's family and their sadness at its impending death. So he let it live. He had still not caught anything when he was overtaken by nightfall and climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a Bael tree. His canteen leaked water, so he was both hungry and thirsty. These two torments kept him awake throughout the night, thinking of his poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously waiting for his return. To pass away the time he engaged himself in plucking the Bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.

The next day he returned home and bought some food for himself and his family. The moment he was about to break his fast a stranger came to him, begging for food. He served the food first to stranger and then had his own.

At the time of his death, he saw two messengers of Lord Shiva, sent to conduct his soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. He learnt then for the first time of the great merit he had earned by unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. The messengers told him that there had been a Lingam (a symbol for the worship of Shiva) at the bottom of the tree. The leaves he dropped had fallen on the Lingam, in imitation of its ritual worship. The water from his leaky canteen had washed the Lingam (also a ritual action), and he had fasted all day and all night. Thus, he unconsciously had worshipped the Lord. As the conclusion of the tale the King said that he had lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for a long time before being reborn as Chitrabhanu. This story is narrated in the Garuda Purana.