Confused about Ravan's curse??!! - Page 3

Originally posted by: desichica

Yes ananya that helped me more than enough...i think i got more answers than i cud of asked for!!!!!! Thank you so so so much dear!!!!!!

Originally posted by: Vibhishna

Thanks for the information.

My knowledge of Kali Yug still remains woefully incomplete. I haven't completed reading and understanding it. 😭😭😭 I tried but its pretty complex and I need time to understand and contemplate it before I tell anyone else about it.

About Parikshit, it was said that the day he ascended the throne was the beginning of Kali Yuga. Here is the story I have read.

One day, Parikshit went hunting and he felt very thirsty. On the way, he saw an ashram. He entered it and bowed down to the sage and asked for some water. The sage Shameekha who was absorbed in meditation was totally unaware of the presence ofthe king. Agonised by his thirst, Parikshit thought that the sage was ignoring him wantedly. He found a dead snake nearby and put it around the sage's neck and went away.

Sage Shameekha's son, Shringi came to the ashram and was aghast to see the insult done to his father. In a fit of rage, he cursed that the one who did this will be bitten by the king of snakes Takshak within a week and die. When sage Shameek rose from his meditation, he came to know of Shringi's curse and told him to at least inform the king of this. He said that Parikshit did this as a result of a misunderstanding, the Lord of the Universe, Sri Krishna himself protected Parikshit when he was in his mother's womb and it would do well atlest to inform him of his fate. Parikshit was informed of this and he felt very bad for having misunderstood the sage. He spent the 7 remaining days of the life listening to the glories of Lord Krishna.

Every day Parikshit would listen to the story of Krishna Leela and the Mahabharatha from the parrot faced rishi Sukha surrounded by many brahmins. On the seventh day, Takshak, proceeded to kill him disguised as a brahmin. On the way, he met another brahmin and he started a conversation with him. The other brahmin said that he was going to save Parikshit. If he does so, the king will reward him well and his poverty will disappear. Takshak (disguised as a brahmin) asked him how he could do that. To this he replied, that by the grace of his guru, he can even cure even a person poisoned by Adhisesha.

Takshak assumed his real form and told the brahmin that he will bite the nearby banyan tree. If the brahmin can bring it back to life, he (Takshak) will be convinced of his powers. Takshak bit the tree. The tree was reduced to ashes. The brahmin sprinkled some water from his kamandal (his water jug) and the tree came back to life as it was before. Takshak was amazed. He offered the brahmin a lot of gold coins and told him, "This is more than any king in theworld can offer. Please accept this and go back. Allow fate to take its course." The brahmin agreed and accepted Takshak's offer. (Another version says that the brahmin refused Takshak and was threatened by Takshak that he (the brahmin) will be bitten before he can reach the king and who will save him, then. And so the brahmin accepted.)

At the end of the seventh day, Takshak who was seated among the brahmins, transformed into a snake and bit Parikshit. Pariksiht, having heard the glorious storis of the Lord durign his last days, attained liberation from furture births.

One doubt though . . .

Who was that brahmin? Some say that he was Sage Kashyap - of this I'm not convinced. I'm guessing that it was a desciple of Maharishi Kashyap. Besides, Takshak would have reacognised Maharishi Kashyap easily.

Ananya

I think the Nagas were a genre of people who were tied to putting serpents in a position of honor, maybe tied to a deification of Sesha-nag. Therefore, the Nagas Arjun destroyed at Khandavprastha were completely different from Uloopi's Nagas. Arjun married Uloopi during his 1 year exile, and had her son Iravana (who was killed in the war by a Rakshasha Alambusa). Uloopi was undoubtedly based in Nagaland, since shortly after marrying her, Arjun proceeded to Manipur where he married Chitrangada. After his return to Indraprastha, Uloopi, who couldn't bear her separation from Arjun, decided to treat Chitrangada's home as her sasural, and moved there. (Arjun finally recognized her contribution after she had Bavruvahana, Chitrangada's son, 'kill' him in battle to save him from the curse of the Vasus and going to hell). You are right that politics seemed to matter more to Indra than his blood relations. He didn't seem to be unhappy about Rama punishing Jayant, or killing Vali either.

Post Ramayan, Kush formed an alliance with a Naga ruler Kumudh and married his sister Kumudhati, and the 2 of them continued the Ayodhya branch of the Raghu-kul.

Originally posted by: Chandraketu

Ananya

I think the Nagas were a genre of people who were tied to putting serpents in a position of honor, maybe tied to a deification of Sesha-nag. Therefore, the Nagas Arjun destroyed at Khandavprastha were completely different from Uloopi's Nagas. Arjun married Uloopi during his 1 year exile, and had her son Iravana (who was killed in the war by a Rakshasha Alambusa). Uloopi was undoubtedly based in Nagaland, since shortly after marrying her, Arjun proceeded to Manipur where he married Chitrangada. After his return to Indraprastha, Uloopi, who couldn't bear her separation from Arjun, decided to treat Chitrangada's home as her sasural, and moved there. (Arjun finally recognized her contribution after she had Bavruvahana, Chitrangada's son, 'kill' him in battle to save him from the curse of the Vasus and going to hell). You are right that politics seemed to matter more to Indra than his blood relations. He didn't seem to be unhappy about Rama punishing Jayant, or killing Vali either.

Post Ramayan, Kush formed an alliance with a Naga ruler Kumudh and married his sister Kumudhati, and the 2 of them continued the Ayodhya branch of the Raghu-kul.

Originally posted by: godisone

I don't think Gods cared too much for bloodlines, because that would make them more humanized. I don't know...just a theory.

Do you know who Luv married? And if he had any sons? And I thought Kush ruled Kushavathi? Or did Ayodhya come under his kingdom?

Sorry for so many questions.😳

I don't know who Luv married - in fact, nothing is known about his reign. In fact, I have a theory that the kingdom he inherited was Dakshin Kaushal - the original kingdom that Kaushalya originated from (she was not a princess of Ayodhya i.e. her Kosala was not Ayodhya). Dakshin Kosala is today's Chattisgarh, and if my theory is correct and that's the kingdom Luv inherited, it would explain why the same scriptures that describe Kush's lineage to some detail are silent about Luv. Or else, both should have been described, don't you think?

As for Kush, I think he extended his rule to the Vindyas and set up a capital at Kushavati, maybe because he didn't want to live in the place that his mother couldn't live. His successors may have moved the capital back to Ayodhya - Brihadbala is described as the ruler of Ayodhya in the Mahabharat. Disclaimer: Note that all this is my theory, and has little scriptural backing. When I do such things, I'm honest enough to say so upfront 😆😆😆

You're probably right about the Devas - they didn't care for their earthly relatives. But if that is correct, why did Indra try to save Arjun by depriving Karna of his kavach/kundal, and why did Surya try to prevent that from happening?

I don't know who Luv married - in fact, nothing is known about his reign. In fact, I have a theory that the kingdom he inherited was Dakshin Kaushal - the original kingdom that Kaushalya originated from (she was not a princess of Ayodhya i.e. her Kosala was not Ayodhya). Dakshin Kosala is today's Chattisgarh, and if my theory is correct and that's the kingdom Luv inherited, it would explain why the same scriptures that describe Kush's lineage to some detail are silent about Luv. Or else, both should have been described, don't you think?

As for Kush, I think he extended his rule to the Vindyas and set up a capital at Kushavati, maybe because he didn't want to live in the place that his mother couldn't live. His successors may have moved the capital back to Ayodhya - Brihadbala is described as the ruler of Ayodhya in the Mahabharat. Disclaimer: Note that all this is my theory, and has little scriptural backing. When I do such things, I'm honest enough to say so upfront 😆😆😆

You're probably right about the Devas - they didn't care for their earthly relatives. But if that is correct, why did Indra try to save Arjun by depriving Karna of his kavach/kundal, and why did Surya try to prevent that from happening?

Now that we've brought up Luv Kush..i have a question...i read a while back in the beginning of me starting the forum that some1 had said that one of the twin brothers was actually made by Valmiki ji or something like that...b/c of the real son of SiaRam was wandering off in the jungles...and when Valmiki ji saw that Sita maya was calling out the name of her son the son had not responded...so Valmiki ji assumed that the son had been "lost" sort of speaking ...so he created a look alike...and by that time the real son returned and on this sita mata was confused as to wut happened...from this Valmiki ji had to explain y she sees a replica of her son....

Desichica

Sita gave birth to twins, since after being exiled, there were no more opportunities for her to have any more children. Valmiki couldn't be more explicit.

However, nothing is mentioned about whether Urmila, Mandavi or Srutakirti gave birth to twins as well or not. Since none of them were separated from their husbands, they may have had separate children on 2 occasions each.

Ananya

Thanks for the clarification about Kush & Ayodhya, as well as the compliment. 😆😆😆 Although I look at these more from a historical, rather than a literary standpoint, which is why I toss around these conjectures about whatever hasn't been written, but can be deduced from surrounding events 😆😆😆

good comments all,

i think there are other scriptures that can compliment or talk about events that lead up to the Ramayan that show "interconnectedness" (sorry weird word)...i.e. Dasharath's lineage and Ravan's lineage etc... Or how Garuda came to be etc...Every happening in the Ramayan has a story behind a story...

But i am not 100% sure if there are scriptures that can show or explain things that can happen after.

Jai Ram,