Astika upa parva is the fifth upa parva in the epic Mahabharat. The word Astika has many meanings in Sanskrit. In this context, Astika is taken as a believer of God. Astika was the name of a Rishi who stopped the serpent’s yajna of Janamejaya.
Samudra Manthana – Churning of the milky ocean
Astika was a peace lover. He supported non-violence. Astika used the method of oral request that was open to him since he had no power to command to stop the serpent’s yajna. He knew God exists in the hearts of the living beings, as narrated in the Bhagavadgeetha:
In Mahbharat, Pauloma parva is the fourth upa parva, under the first maha parva, named as the Adi parva. Maha parva means parts of the epic, the main book of Mahabharat, and upa parva means sub divided volumes. Mahabharat was authored by Veda Vyasa Rishi and he told the entire epic to his son Shuka Muni in eighteen parts with an appendix or in total say, one hundred sub divisions. Suta Puranika had heard the narrations, when he had attended the serpents’ yajna performed by Janamejaya, where the epic was retold by Shuka muni to the audience assembled there.
After completion of the yajna, Suta Puranik, while returning, had visited the hermit of Ugrashrava , son of Lomaharshana, at Naimisharanya. Ugrashrava had requested Suta Puranik to narrate the same epic. Thus three upa parva was completed. He started to narrate the fourth upa parva, the pauloma parva. After accepting the provisions of due hospitality, the story teller, Suta Puranik upheld the lesson of this upa parva being the highest virtue as non- violence, as adorable for any human being and to be longed for that root principle of Dharma.
In Mahbharat, Paushyaparva is the third upa parva, under the first parva namely the Adi parva. The original name of the Mahabharat book was Jaya, as Vyasa, the original author had desired. Then, Suta Puranikas, the story tellers called the same book with other names, and it is also known as Panchama Veda. Now, the Sanskrit name of this upa parva is Paushya and it would be better to study regarding the word Paushya. It is recommended to read the article Uttankain Ramayana and Mahabharat before preceding the following elaborations on Paushya. In the Ramayana epic, one of the stars in the sky, Tishya had been referred. The same Tishya had been renamed by Suta Puranikas as Pushya in Mahabharat. After the star Pushya, the next star is Ashlesha, or Ayilyam as named in south Indian languages.
Parvasangraha upa parva is the second upa parva of the first parva called Adi parva in the epic Mahabharat. There is a major difference between the parvasangraha upa parva with other upa parvas. The collection of the special heroic events of the Mahabharat characters, with emphasis on collection of arms, weapons had been narrated in this upa parva. Also, the collection and counting of verses of each and every chapter is narrated in this upa parva. The Upakhyanas were also collected and briefed in this upa parva. Upakhyanas were narrated as similar supporting stories but made crazier than the main story. The main story had gathered its volume with these side one proving stories, say upakhyanas and the central holiness was maintained with its credentials, like a holy religious book. Gandhiji had already declared Mahabharat as the fifth veda, or Panchamaveda.
Anukramanika is the name of the first upa parva out of ninteen upa parvas in Mahabharat. Mahabharat epic has eighteen parvas and Adi parva is the first one. The original epic had been written in Sanskrit in verses. The total verses would be exceeding one lakhs.
In olden times, to be memorized by the disciples, the author cum teacher of this epic had classified the verses into several clusters, the partitions done according to the flow of events in due course of time. Parashara Rishi was the father of Veda Vyasa Rishi. Shuka Muni was the son of Veda Vyasa Rishi. Veda Vyasa Rishi himself told the entire Mahabharata to his son Shuka. Shuka told to his disciple, Suta muni. In the Anukramanika upa parva, the summary of Mahabharat had been told in brief in the sequential form like indexing the story chapters, done for convenience.
Mahabharat is an epic, written in Sanskrit, centuries ago in India. Ramayana had been seen as the oldest and holiest epic. Hence, it was already read with reverence during the month of Karkataka, as per solar calendar. After paddy cultivation, in Kerala, during the month of Karkataka, people could be seen reading Ramayana daily. Even after that one month, some energetic and young farmers of our country felt the necessity of another epic with a different taste. In the next month, as the paddy plants show growth slowly, and farmers have to simply watch their growth, feeding the natural monsoon water to the plants. This month is the Leo or Chingam under solar calculation system. Thus, people used to read the epic Mahabharat.
Ayodhya was the capital city of Rama but his education was not yet completed when Vishwamitra Rishi had visited the Palace of Dasharatha. Vishwamitra Rishi was in search of an efficient man, say a prince, who possessed healthy habits. He had collected the data about Rama and selected him as a suitable person for his desired purpose of actions. Rama was not married then. He was always found accompanied by his younger brother Lakshmana. His character, conduct and integrity were beyond doubt and are not a matter to narrate, but his habits would be emphasized here. Habits could be practiced by observing a guide. Healthy human habits would certainly please the surrounding people and create a healthy society that would be able to cause longevity and happiness in life.
Apprenticeship and internship are very old systems that could be seen in Ramayana. The style and words would differ, being in Sanskrit language.
The period of learning the work was called as the apprenticeship. Prior to the actual work, the teacher used to orally tell the verses and the disciple had to by heart them. When the disciple performed the works, the teacher would correct him in case mistakes had been committed. The case of Shunashepa and Vishwamitra could be stated as one of the examples for the apprenticeship in Ramayana.
Rama had lived in Ayodhya during his childhood and as an Emperor later. After receiving his basic education from Vasishta, he had gone to forests with Vishwamitra Rishi for higher education and thereby to get the skill in martial arts. After marriage, for the next fourteen years, he used to live in forests in order to fulfill his father’s words as befitting to the Raghu lineage. Hence, the construction of huts and hermits were necessitated for Rama, to live in the forests areas. Construction works have been taught in Gurukula system and management of projects were personally monitored by administrative aspirant people then and there, in those days.
Also, in those days there was not a separate pedagogical branch, such as now called Civil Engineering. But it was taught in the school of Vishwakarma to the aspirants, clubbed with other applied sciences. The palace of Rama was magnificent in all respects. All facilities as required in the case of a planned city were available in Ayodhya then.
Rama was the ideal royal administrator of any time on this earth. One day, he expressed to conduct the Ashwamedha Yajna with his brothers, Lakshmana and Bharata, as per the decisions of the council of his advisors. Then, the brothers desired to know the effectiveness of the Ashwamedha yajna and fruitfulness after its completion. Many Rishis had visited Rama and he had acquired great experiences. In order to convince them, a live incident had been narrated by Rama as follows:
