Sage Ashtavakra

Sage Ashta  Vakra

(sage with eight bends)

Compiled  by

P.R.Ramachander

   There was saint called Udhalaka He was considered to have talked personally to the goddess Saraswathi.. He had a daughter called Sujatha   and a son called  Swetha Kethu. He also had a disciple called Kahodaka. (also known as  Khagodhara) . The disciple learned all that has to be learned from Uddalaka  and pleased him very much. Udhalaka then gave  his daughter Sujatha  in marriage to Kahodaka . Eventually Sujatha became in the family way. While Kahodaka  was  chanting Vedas  sitting beside her , the child in her womb shouted that Kahodaka  was  committing mistakes in his recitation. Kahodaka  became angry and cursed that the child would  be born with  eight bends, because the  mind of the child had bends. After the birth of the child Kahodaka decided to go to the court of king Janaka  to earn money by exhibiting his knowledge .At that time king Janaka was performing a Yaga  and so Kahodaka  was not allowed to meet him . Later he met the king and was asked by him to debate with a scholar in his court called Vandheena(also called Bandhi) . All those  who were defeated  by Vandheena (Bandhi) were supposed to jump in the sea( some versions say river) and die.  Kahodhaka was defeated   and  died.

   Ashtavakra  again learned all Vedas  in company of Swetha Kethu. Due to his fiery temper , the fact that  his father  died after being defeated  by Vandheena(Bandhi) was hidden by him. But one day Swetha Kethu happened to blurt out the truth. Immediately , with torrential anger Ashta Vakra started towards  the  court  of King Janka. On thei way , king Janaka  was  travelling in the same road opposite to them. The  security people of Janaka  asked Ashta Vakra to give  way to the king. Then Ashta vakra told them, “Does not your king know that  under  the laws  of dharma  , every human being  has to give way to the  handicapped people?” Janaka heard this and  agreed with him and gave way to Ashta Vakra  to proceed further. Ashta Vakra  reached  the court of Janaka   and was not allowed to enter inside,  saying that he was but a child. He told them that  his wisdom should not be decided  based on his age. Later when he went in front of Janaka, the courtiers of Janaka laughed at the misshapen boy . Then Ashta Vakra told Janaka that , he was not prepared to debate  with mere  cobblers. When the king wanted him to explain, Ashta Vakra told him that , he was being judged about his intelligence by his courtiers based  on his skin, similar to the cobblers judging an animal .  The king  was amazed  his intelligence  but felt great pity on that boy and wanted  to test his wisdom by  himself before allowing him to debate with  Vadheena (Bandhi) . The king and his courtiers were amazed at the knowledge of the boy  . The next day Ashta Vakra  defeated  Vadheena in scholastic argument and wanted Vadheena to jump in the sea and die. Then Vadheena told them that  he was the son of God Varuna and  was in the earth to recruit  sages to perform a Yagna to Varuna. All those defeated  by  him jumped in the sea  and  went to the  abode of Varuna to perform the Yagna. The Yagna was just over and all  of them would  return to   this world. As per his word Kahodha came back and was reunited with his son. Kahoda  felt bad that he has cursed his son. Sage Varuna then made him perfectly all right.

      Later Ashta Vakra wanted to marry  Suprabha , the daughter of  sage Vadanya. But the sage wanted to test him before giving his daughter  in marriage to him. He wanted him to go to Kailsa  meet Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi and further go north and see a very pretty damsel there  and come back. Ashta Vakra obeyed him and in  kailsa he was first received  by Lord Kubhera  and the sage stayed along with him for one year. He then went to Kailasa  and further proceeded  to  the north. There he met  seven very pretty maidens. Ashta Vakra wanted one of them to stay there  and asked the others to go. The lady who stayed there  tried to seduce Ashta vakra .He told that he was not interested in her but only interested in marrying Suprabha. The lady then told that  she was the goddess of the northern direction called Uthara  and blessed him and send him back.Ashta Vakra  returned back , married Suprabha.

   

Ashtavakra  and the deva maidens

   Once the deva maidens made fun of Ashta Vakra with a  body with bends. It seems Ashta Vakra cursed them to become human beings and they were the Gopis of the Brinda van.

Ashta Vakra  and Ravana

   It seems once  Ravana made fun of the form of Ashta Vakra and told him that he would remove all his bends by beating him. When he caught hold of the sage and threw him, the sage cursed Ravana that he would be crushed from head to feet  by monkeys.

Ashta Vakra  Gita

    One of the great philosophical  treatises  of Hinduism is the  instruction about  the nature  of self given by Ashta Vakra   to king Janaka.  It is referred as either Ashta Vakra  Samhitha or as Ashta Vakra  Gita.   It  is a dialogue between “Ashtavakra and king  Janaka on the nature of soul, reality and bondage.  It offers an extremely radical version of non-dualistic philosophy. The Gita insists on complete unreality of external world and absolute oneness of existence. It does not mention any morality or duties and therefore, is seen by commentators as 'godless'. It also dismisses names and forms as unreal and a sign of ignorance.

You are really unbound and action-less, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind. (I.15) You are unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable, unfathomable awareness, imperturbable- such consciousness is un-clinging. (I.17) You are not bound by anything. What does a pure person like you need to renounce? Putting the complex organism to rest, you can go to your rest. (V.1)”    The  great  translation of entire book in to English is available  in http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Ebooks/Spiritual-Books/Ashtavakra-Gita.pdf.     There is another story  of the origin of  sage Ashta Vakra. It seems there was a sage called Asitha. He did thapas  to lord Shiva to get a son  and got a son  called  Devala. He was so pretty that Rambha  , one of dancers of the court of Indra  ,fell in love with him. When he refused her , it seems Rambha cursed him to become one with eight bends. Later he did thapas for six thousand years  and Lord Krishna with Radha came before him. Radha was horrified by the ugliness  of the sage but it seems Lord Krishna hugged him. This hug made  Devala get back his normal form. It seems this Devala married a lady called Yekaparna , who was the daughter  of Himavan.

A survey of Gothras among iyers (Tamil Speaking Brahmins)

A survey of Gothras   among iyers  (Tamil Speaking Brahmins)

Complied   by

P.R.Ramachander   

 Gothras    among Brahmins is supposed   to be patrilineal groups among them.  They are believed to have  originated   from the Gothra rishi.  I wanted to know how the gothras are spread among  Tamil speaking iyers  and undertook this survey. As a part of arm chair research I went through several issues of  Sruthivani and Mukthipriya magazines which give matrimonial advertisements of Iyers. From them   using  the data of 3507  advertisements, I could find that  , they belong to  51 Gothras(  There may be many more Gothras, which has not come in my survey.

Agasthya	4
Athreya	227	6.40%
Badarayana	12
Bharadwaja	685	19.50%
Bharghava	8
Chandilya	2
Devaradam	1
Garga	99	2.82%
Gauthama	86	2.42%
Gowri Veetham	6
Gowshteera	1
Gowsteera	2
Guthsava	1
Haritha	235	6.70%
Kalpangeerasa	2
Kanva	12
Kapi	8
Kashyapa	198	5.64%
Koundinya	379	10.80%
Koushika	477	13.60%
Kutsava	2
Lohitha	7
Manava	1
Mandavya	3
Medhara	2
Moudgalya	45	1.28%
Naidrupa Kahyapa	121	3.45%
Oupumanya	55	1.56%
Parasara	12
Pourugusthya	16
Radheethara	1
Ratheethra	1
Rebha Kashyapa	1
Salangayana	1
sankarshana	1
Sankrithi	103	2.93%
Saunaka	5
Shadamarshana	48	1.36%
Shandilya	18
Sikitha	1
Sri Vatsa	390	11.12%
Tharakayana	9
Udhitha	3
Uditya	5
Uditya Goutama	11
Vadhoolam	160	4.56%
Vasishta	6
Veethakavya	9
Vishnu Vardhangeerasa	3
Vishnudangeerasa	1
Viswamithra	21
Total	3507

Puducode Rama Pattar Rama iyer aka Chelakkara Thekke madam Kunju Rama Iyer aka Kingsway Madras Brahmin’s hotel Rama Iyer

     This great person was my father . Though I do not know his exact birth details , he was born in the early twentieth centaury as  the second son of Puducode Vadakke Gramam Rama Pattar  aka Saddil Raman and  Parvathy  the daughter of  the very rich Pulacode Rama Pattar . He had three younger sisters and a younger brother. His elder brother also was named as Raman and so he was called as Kunju Raman.  Though his father was from a rich background, due to fate he lost all his property.  He was  called to Chelakkara by his rich sister and a very rich father in law. His eldest son who was way word deserted the family  and ran away.  When Kunju Raman was  about 10 years old his father died of small pox . His  younger brother died before him.  His three sisters and mother were really starving. So the little boy of ten called Kunju Raman left his village to work in the Shanmuka Vilas hotel of his uncle at Kodaikanal . His uncle had several sons. The little Raman joined them as a worker. He has once told me that his dress was only a towel  and in winter he used to cover himself with an empty gunny bag. Because he was an extremely intelligent person , he learnt the art of serving in the hotel quickly. But he was not getting sufficient money to send to his mother and sisters. So after serving about an year he left Kodaikkanal  to work in another hotel in Combatore. He shifted later to Madras , Secunderabad and Bidar  .When he was 32 he owned the very famous hotel called Madras Brahmins hotel , which was 3397 in Kingsway secunderabad.

    We his children were educated by him and we became tolerably well off. At my very young age , when I was a scientist in Coimbatore, I had asked my father whether he wanted to visit  Shanmuka Vilas, Kodaikkanal. Some how he never wanted it. He said that it will take him  to the sorrow and misery that filled  a part of his life. He never wanted it. My father died at the age of 97 . I am now 72  and I had always had a longing to visit Shanmuka Vilas , Kodaikkanal.  It is still owned by the grand son of my father’s uncle .  This opportunity arose recently when my daughter and family went to Kodai  on April 25^th of this year. I accompanied them . The name of Shanmuka Vilas has been changed to Padma Lodge . It was with flowing tears that I asked my daughter to take a photo of that more than one hundred years old building where my father worked when he  was ten.

The present owner also pointed out an almost one hundred year old Bougainville  tree at the entrance of the hotel. I am also giving a photo of that  tree.

A Mama in Bahama

                                                    A nonsense rhyme On Bahama Mama

                                                           (Mama in Tamil means uncle)

                                                                  By    Raja Mama

                                                  To my little one who is not in India,

                                                 Osama  was definitely  not a mama,

                                                And  Obama was not  a mama to Osama,

                                                Nor was Obama a mama to Bahama,

                                               But in Bahama there was a hotel called  Mama,

                                                  Where the food was eaten by this mama.

This is a sketch by my seven year old grand daughter Yamini Venkatesan. She definitely appears to be a budding artist

Stotras for mothers and would be mothers.

Stotras for mothers and would be mothers.

I would like to point out several stotras which would be useful to girls who want to be mothers and also mothers. This definitely does not mean that there are no other stotras which would help them. These are some of those which I have come across:-
1.Stotras to marry according to ones wish
Swayamvara parvathi manthra mala stotram is the prayer which was used by Goddess Parvathi to marry Lord shiva and this same prayer was used by Gopis to marry lord Krishna. You can find along with translation in

http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Swayamvara_Parvathy_Manthra_Mala_Stotram

2.Stotras for married women to get children

1.Vamsa Vrudhi Karam durga Kavacham This is an extremely effective prayer to get children. You can find it along with translation which also contains instructions on how to use it in
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g68.htm


2.Puthra Prapthi Ashtakam This is a prayer addressed to Lord Narasimha of Mattapalli , which is in Andhra Pradesh. The God is requested to give a son in this prayer. The stotra with its translation is available in http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Puthra_Prapthi_ashtakam

3.Sashti devi storam. This prayer is extremely popular in the east of India. Sashti devi is Devayani , who was the wife of Lord Subrahmanya. She is believed to have six heads and rides on a cat. It is strongly believed that she answers our prayers and blesses barren women with sons. The stotra with a translation is available in
http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2012/02/sashti-devi-stotram.html

4. Slokas number 6 and 46 of Soundarya Lahari are supposed to help us in getting son. You can see my translation of Soundarya Lahari in http://www.sankaracharya.org/soundarya_lahari.php. Please note that there are yanthras attached to these slokas. They should be drawn , worshiped and later worn by the individual.

3.Stotras to protect mothers during pregnancy and ensure a safe delivery

1. There is a temple in Thikarukavur near Tanjavur of Tamil Nadu. The presiding Goddess is Garbha Rakshambikai. If you pray her it it is believed that she would ensure safe delivery. There are two stotras about her , one written by Sage Sounaka(
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/o1.htm
) and the other written by Brahmasri Sengalipuram Anantha Rama deekshithar ( http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g94.htm ) . Both these great prayers can be used to ensure safe delivery.
2. Sloka number 29 of soundarya Lahari helps in avaiding abortion and ensuring safe delivery.

4. Prayer to ensure increase in intelligence of children
1. There is a prayer addressed to Lord subrahmanya to increase the intelligence of our children. This is called Pargana Vardhaka Karthikeyatotram . Devotees believe that it would improve even mentally retarded children. It can be found in
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/in14.htm

2. The first five stanzas of Sasakthi shiva navakam helps one to get expertaise in different fields of learning. Depending on his need please teach the concerned sloka to him .It can be found in
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s24.htm

5.Prayer to ward of diseases of self as well as children

1. There are two great stotras called apamarjana Kavacham and Apamarjana stotram both addressed to Lord Vishnu which are supposed to clear of all diseases. They can be seen at
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v86.htm
and http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v88.htm


2. There is another prayer addressed to lord Shiva to get cured of all diseases called Srava roga hara Maheswara Kavacham
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s68.htm


6. Prayer to help our children to live a healthy , joyous and wonderful life
There is a prayer in malalayalam addressed to the ten avatharas of lord Guruvayrappan to protect our children from all dangers and illnesses as well as to help them grow him in to a wonderful person. If you do not know Malyalam please read only the translation. It can be found in http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/k13.htm

Kavachams (armours ) addressed to various Gods

Kavachams (armours ) addressed to various Gods.

I think that it is the proper time and place to look backward and see the translation work done by me in categories. Kavachams are prayers that ask God to protect us and various parts of us. I have translated Kavacham as Armour . But many of my learned friends, prefer to translate it as shield. I some how feel that armour would be a better translation. There are two types of armours prevalent in stotra literature –one used a prayer and another used by thanthrics to protect themselves from evil spirits. I have translated more than 50 Kavachams in to English. Some of them like that addressed to Lakshmana, Bharatha , SAthrugna and Balarama are very rare. Apamarjana stotram addressed to Vishnu and Maheswara Kavacham addressed to Lord Shiva are believed to cure all diseases. The Vamsa Vrudhi karam Durga Kavacham and Varaha Kavacham are supposed to help in getting children. The Mrita SAnjeevini Kavacham is supposed to help us win over fatal diseases . The Trilokya Mohana Kavacham is believed to help us attract people. The Rudra Kavacham, Maha Vidhya Kavacham, Bhuvaneswari Kavacham and Kalika Kavacham are believed to help us win over our enemies, who have tried to destroy us by black magic. Here is the list of Kavachams that I have translated:-
1.Narayana Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v47.htm
2.Apamarjana Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v86.htm
3.Nrusimha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v75.htm
4.Trilokya Mohana Nrusimha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v76.htm
5.Narasimha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v89.htm
6.Venkatesa Vajra Kavacha stotram http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v49.htm
7.Sri Rama Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ra30.htm
8.Lakshmana Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ra27.htm
9.Bharatha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ra28.htm
10.Shatrugna Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ra29.htm
11.Balarama Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/k53.htm
12.Gopala Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/k54.htm
13.Gopala Akshaya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/k55.htm
14.Shiva Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s49.htm
15.Rudra Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s65.htm
16.Maha Mruthyunjaya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s67.htm
17.Mrita SAnjeevana Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s69.htm
18.Radha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g71.htm
19.Bhavani Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g112.htm
20.Devi Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g143.htm
21.Maha Vidhya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g153.htm
22.Bhuvaneswari Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g157.htm
23.Durga Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g74.htm
24.Vamsa Vrudhikaram Durga Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g68.htm
25.Kalika Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g158.htm
26.Saraswathi Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g156.htm
27.Maha Lakshmi Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g69.htm
28.Ganesa Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/p11.htm
29.Vinayaka Kavacham (Tamil) http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/p12.htm
30.Skanda Sashti Kavacham(Tamil) http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/m2.htm
31.Shanmuga Kavacham(Tamil) http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/m9.htm
32.Subramanya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/m10.htm
33.Kanda Guru Kavacham(Tamil) http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/m11.htm
34.Maha Sastru Anugraha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ay14.htm
35. Adhithya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n10.htm
36.Chandra Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n11.htm
37.Mangala Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n12.htm
38. Budha Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n13.htm
39.Brahaspathi Kavachamhttp://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n14.htm
40.Shukra Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n15.htm
41.Sani Vajra Panjarika Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n16.htm
42.Rahu Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n17.htm
43. Kethu Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n18.htm
44.Tri lokya Mangala Surya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/n31.htm
45.Eka Mukha Hanumath Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/h11.htm
46.Pancha MUkha Hanumath Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/h12.htm
47. SAptha Mukha Hanumath Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/h13.htm
48.Ekadasa Mukha Hanumath Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/h14.htm
49.Veera Hanuman Kavacham (Tamil) http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/h9.htm
50.Thulasi Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/o31.htm
51.Dathathreya Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/o40.htm
52.SArva Roga Haram Maheswara Kavacham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/s68.htm
53.Varaha Kavacham for getting children http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/v46.htm
54.Maha Lakshmi Kavacham II http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g154.htm