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.
Lamp lighting is a common feature in India, during the holy inauguration of a new house, hall or starting of a meeting or conference. In the various linguistic states of India, holy Lamps usage is more or less similar. In the various religious functions also, the lamps find an indispensable place on occasions. Even though electric lights are now available, the holiness goes to the various oil lamps. The highest honor of lamp is occupied by the cow ghee lamps.
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:
Rama was the incarnation of God Maha Vishnu. He had born as the son of king Dasharatha and queen Kausalya at Ayodhya. The history pertains to Treta Yuga. When Rama had completed his basic education under the tutorship of sage Vasishta, another sage, Vishwamitra, had appeared in the court of king Dasharatha and demanded Rama be his apprentice. Vishwamitra had a well-built body; he was also a one-time notorious king. But he decided, in his later life, the knowledge regarding the science of fighting and ability for killing should be abandoned and hence acted as a sage, a propagator of peace. Hence he taught the martial sciences to Rama, where his brother Lakshmana also intended to do his internship with him.
Ramayana and Mahabharata are great Indian epics. They have been written in Sanskrit language but translations are available in many languages, throughout the world. Each and every character of the epics had fulfilled their assigned roles during their lifetime and returned to heaven or hell according to their accumulated virtues or sins. Some of the souls could not return from this universe but their physical body had been disbursed into the five fundamental items, namely, earth, fire, water, air and sky.
Later, when God appeared in this world as incarnation, like God Rama or Krishna, they had trans granted such souls onto the appropriate end targets, generally in to the heaven. But there are certain relaxations to some persons. The services of Hanuman and Vibhishana were always found necessary in this universe by God Rama. Hence they had been granted uncountable span of life, to live always in this world, exhibiting their own desired choice of physical forms. Hanuman and Vibhishana were called Chiranjeevis of this world after Ramayana. There are five more Chiranjeevis:
