Garuda and Vishnu

Vishnu had been observing the antics of Garuda, He challenged Garuda. He flung his discus but the bird was not hurt. Garuda attacked Vishnu and hurt him badly with his beak and sharp claws. Stopping the flight, Vishnu said I have never seen one like you. I am pleased with your strength. Ask for a boon.

Garuda said if you are pleased with me, give me a position above you, on your flag. Garuda then said, he also wanted to give Vishnu a boon. Vishnu then said, he would like Garuda to be his vehicle.

Garuda then left with the pot of nectar for his mother. On the way, Indra confronted him and was about to hurl his thunderbolt at him. Garuda said Please do not insult your weapon. A thousand bolts hurled together will not hurt me. To give respect to you, I will tear off a feather from a wing and throw that at you.

Indra was amazed and asked for Garuda's friendship. He further wanted to know how strong he was. 

Garuda said One should talk of ones' own strengths. Only because you are asking me, I will tell you. I can fly tirelessly with all the worlds balanced on my wings. 

Indra then asked why Garuda was carrying the nectar away. Garuda told him about his mother's slavery. Hearing this, Indra said the Nagas are evil. You will not be able to tackle them easily and you will need to play with them. Garuda said when I hand over the nectar to the Nagas, my mother will be free, and then you can take away the nectar. Indra then asked Garuda to ask for a boon. Garuda said the Nagas have been the cause for this trouble. From today let them become my natural food.

Garuda flew on and invisible Indra flew along with Garuda.

Indra cursed by Balakhilya

Once Indra and the other Gods were carrying wood for their father, Rishi Kashyapa. On the way they saw the Balakhilya rishis. The Balakhilya rishis were the size of a thumb . These rishis were struggling to pull a piece of wood.
Seeing this, Indra started laughing.
Offended the Balakhilyas went and started a sacrifice. They wanted a being was stronger than Indra in strength, who was invincible and who was just. The Gods went to the Rishis asking why they wanted to create a second Indra. The Rishis said they had been humiliated by Indra and they wanted to avenge that.
Kashyapa and the other Gods asked the rishis to stop this. The rishis said they were not able to stop the process but they would be able to deviate the same.
At that time, Kashyapa's wife , Vinata, was meditating to get a child. Kashyapa asked the rishis to have the second Indra to be born from Vinata, as the lord of all flying creatures. Thus was born Garuda, in the form of a great bird.

When Garuda approached the heavens, the army of the Gods started showering weapons at him, but no none of the weapons could pierce him. They would fall off, the moment they touched him.
Garuda started flapping his wings and a huge dust storm was created. The Gods were blinded. Indra then asked Pawana, to clear the dust. The Wind God blew off the dust. They started showering weapons at Garuda again. Garuda now attacked them with his beak. The Gods fled.

Garuda then went to the place where the nectar was stored. He saw that surrounded by fire. He doused the fire by getting water. Beyond the fire wall, he saw discus. It was huge in size and had very shard edges. it was revolving very fast, in all directions. So fast was its pace, that even if a fly tried to pass, it would get cut into pieces. Garuda noticed that there was a small hole in the discus, the size of the eye of a needle. He suddenly made his size smaller than that hole, and travelling faster than the discus he entered the hole. He saw the pot of nectar, increased his size, smashed the discus and flew away the pot.

Garuda

While this was happening, in the house, Vinata's egg hatched. The child that came out of the egg, grew in size instantly and stood up. It kept growing till its head nearly touched the skies. Gods were scared to see this. Who was this? The Gods went to the child and said, Son of Vinata, you are a holy soul. You are Garuda. Please do not scare us. You are the son of Kashyapa.
Satisfied, Garuda controlled his size. Garuda then brought forth his brother, who had been forcibly hatched by Vinata. He was Aruna. Garuda took him and placed him in the chariot of Surya. From now on, Aruna would serve as the charioteer of Surya.

Leaving Aruna, Garuda then went is search of his mother and he found her serving Kadaru. He bowed down before her.
Kadaru wanted Vinata to carry her to an island. The condition was that Vinata needed to carry her on her back. Garuda lifted the nagas on his back. While Vinata went towards the island, Garuda flew upwards towards the sun. The heat of the sun started burning the snakes. Seeing this Kadaru appealed to Indra to help her sons. Indra started the rains and Garuda was compelled to take the nagas to the island.
The nagas on the island would order Garuda to take them places, and treated him like a slave also. Hurt, Garuda went to his mother and asked the reason for this.
Vinata told her son about how she came to be Kadaru's slave.
Garuda went to Kadaru and wanted to know how his mother would be free. Kadaru said if she could be given the nectar of immortality, his mother would be free. Garuda went to his mother and said he would get the nectar and free her. Before he set for the journey, he said he was hungry. His mother told him to go towards the ocean and eat whatever he wanted. She also advised him not to touch anyone who was pure, holy or good.  Further, Vinata blessed him, She said he would not be destroyed by any weapons. He would be invincible. He would also be the ruler of all flying creatures.
Flying on, he saw his father, Kashyapa, meditating. He went and bowed down to his father, and wanted to know where he could something to eat.

Kashyapa said, Listen King of Birds, close by is a lake where an elephant and a tortoise are fighting for ages. Theirs is wonderful story. There were once two brothers - Vibhavasu and Supratik. They were sons of a rishi and had all knowledge. Some friends managed to get the brothers separated. Once they went apart, each demanded the other's territory. Supratik would pester his brother for a share and one Vibhavasu got angry. He cursed him saying I have given you all that is due to to you, but you still demand more. You are fit to live in a forest. Go dwell there.
Supratik said what I asked for was not unjust and your curse was not just either. Saying he cursed his brother to become a tortoise.

Ending his tale Kashyap said the elephant in the forest and the tortoise are not like any that you have seen before. Their size is huge. They just keep fighting everyday near the lake. Go eat them. Your hunger will be satisfied and your journey to get the nectar will also be successful.

Going close to the lake Garuda saw the two fighting. Catching each in one hand, Garuda started looking for a place where he could sit and eat them in peace. Any trees that he could sit on, could not stand his weight. He sat on a branch of a strong tree and that broke and began to fall towards the ground. Garuda noticed that the Balkhilya Rishis were meditating on that branch. Garuda grasped the branch in his mouth and with the elephant in one hand, and the tortoise in the other hand, Garuda flew to his father and wanted to know where he should place the branch. Kashyapa told him to go to the Himalayas where he could place the branch. Keeping the branch there, Garuda ate the elephant and the tortoise and then went in search of the nectar.

In the heavens, Indra was seeing bad omens. What was the cause of this, he asked his guru Brihaspati. The guru said this was an indication of a curse of Indrra,  that Garuda had come to take the nectar.

Indra asked his army to be ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sages that had been listening from Sauti so far, wanted to know why Indra had been cursed.

Curse of Vinata - Continued

When the two sisters saw the horse, it was evening. Kadaru asked her sister, can you guess the color of the horse? Vinata said it is white. Kadaru said no, it is black.
They kept arguing amongst themselves. Then Kadaru said one who lost the wager would serve as the slave of the other sister. Vinata agreed.
Kadaru in the dead of the night called her sons and told them what had happened. The nagas said it was not fair. All knew the horse was white. And Vinata was also like a mother to them and it would not be fair to deceive her.
Kadaru seeing her sons refuse cursed them to get destroyed in the snake sacrifice of Janamjeya.
The snakes then went to the horse and slowly crept over it so from a distance it looked that the horse was dark in color. Seeing the color of the horse, Vinata was forced to be the slave of Kadaru.

Mohini

Sometime later, Mohni started walking around. The other gods and asuras wanted to be close to her. Addressing all, she asked all to sit in two lines. One line would have the devas and one line would have the asuras.
Mohini said she would walk between the lines and would distribute the nectar amongst them. She said if the asuras did not mind, she would start with the devas and then come to the asuras with the nectar.
She distributed the nectar among the Gods and then drank the remaining herself.
Suddenly Surya and Chandra (Sun and Moon) saw that Rahu in the guise of a God and drunk the nectar. Hearing this Mohini, using the Sudarshan Chakra, cut off Rahu's head. As the nectar had gone down Rahu's body, the two parts of his body became immortal - the head being called Rahu and the rest of the body. Ketu.
After this, Mohini vanished with the pot of nectar. Knowing that they had been duped, the Asuras started fighting with the Devas.
The Devas were refreshed with the nectar, and the Asuras still tired, so the Devas won this battle.

The Sages hearing from Sauti wanted to know what happened to Kadaru and Vinata.

Hara Hari Together

The sages listening wanted to know if apart from the Devas, did the Asuras also get something from the Ocean.
Sauti continued.
When Dhanvantari came out of the ocean with nectar, the asuras snatched that from the Devas and ran away. They said everything that came up, the devas kept. Even they had been part of the churning and deserved something.
A quarrel started between the Devas and the asuras. All wanted the nectar that would give immortality.
Shiva who was there said instead of fighting they should get someone who would be able to divide the nectar amongst them evenly.
They began thinking of such a person.
Suddenly there appeared a beautiful woman. This was Vishnu in the form of a woman, Mohini. This form of Mohini was amazing to look at. Her beauty lit up the heavens. Everyone wanted Mohini.
Shiva could not control himself either. Spreding his arms he went to grab Mohini. Amazed Mohini said, Was this fit for a Yogi like Shiva? Shiva said O deer eyed one, who are you? Where have you come from?
Mohini started making fun of Shiva. You have ashes on your body, you wear animal skins, why should I introduce myself to you?

Shiva said I do not know you, so why do you make fun of me. I am yogi among all yogis. Mahamaya worships me. I am easy to please. Ganga resides on my head. With my eyes I have destroyed Kama.

Convinced, Mohini came towards Shiva with her hands outstretched.  And a wonderful thing happened.  The bodies got joined into one.  What the other devas saw was a wonderful sight. A half man, half woman form.
One half had matted hair, one had flowing hair.
Half a garland of bones, half a garland of flowers.
One half clad in ashes, one half with sandal paste.

Everyone watched spellbound, this ArdhaNarishwar form of Shiva and Vishnu.

Neelakantha

Hearing these words of Uma (Durga), Shiva had his bull prepared. Riding his bull, he reached the spot where the churning had happened. He was accompanied by Durga on her lion, Kartikeya on his peacock and Ganesha on his mouse.

Indra welcomed Shiva and said all the goods that risen from the ocean had been distributed and there was nothing else left.

Shiva got angry. At first he had been ignored and now he was being told there was nothing for him.

Seeing Shiva angry, the Gods were scared. They did not know what to say. Seeing this, the sage Kashyapa approached Shiva with folded hands. He said I will tell you about the churning.

Rishi Durvasa had a garland made from the flowers of the Parijata tree. He presented that garland to Indra, who was then riding the elephant, Airavata. Indra, thanking the sage, placed the garland playfully on the teeth of the elephant.

The elephant could not stand the perfume coming the garland and dashed it to the ground, in front of Durvasa.

Seeing this Durvasa cursed Indra. You did not respect my gift. Let all your wealth and prosperity be lost.

Lakshmi, who was wealth and prosperity vanished into the ocean. Without Lakshmi, the entire heaven was lifeless.

Ending his tale Kashyapa said, this was why we churned the ocean. We went to Vishnu who helped us get Mandara and Vasuki for the churning.

Kashyapa took Shiva to the churning spot where he showed him a wounded Vasuki lying there,

Shiva said for my sake, I want you to churn the ocean once more. Again the churning started.

Not able to bear the pain anymore, Vasuki began to emit poisonous fumes. No one could stand this, and all started fleeing.

The Gods then started praying to Shiva, asking for a way out from this.
With one gulp, Shiva gulped the poison and held it in his throat. With the effects of the poison his throat became blue, and from then onward Shiva got a name, Neelakantha.

The Gods were very grateful. Shiva then asked the Gods to take back Mandara from where it had been brought. They all tried but could not. Shiva then effortlessly lifted the mountain and placed it where it belonged. He freed Vasuki and all went back to their homes.

Narada goes to Shiva

The Gods and the demons had finished the churning of ocean. All were aware of what had happened except Shiva. Narada went to inform Shiva about the churning of the ocean.

Narada went to Kailash and bowed down before Durga and Shiva. He informed Shiva about all that had happened. He told Shiva that Vishnu had got back Lakshmi and the gem called Kaustava. Indra had got the horse Uchchaihshravas and the elephant, Airavata. The nectar had also come which would make all who consumed it, immortal.

Narada said all Gods had got something from the Ocean except Shiva. Narada asked Shiva what he wanted. While Shiva kept quiet, Durga got angry. She said look at your Lord. He has a necklace made of bones. He has ashes and dust as the coating on his skin. He does not need precious gems nor does he need sandal wood paste. He is all immortal and has no need for any nectar. He has a bull as his vehicle and has no need for any other vehicle. He has no need for a wish fulfilling tree.
Daksha had once ignored your Lord, and as you know, he had called for his destruction and had to get a head of a goat, as his head. Shiva has accepted all that has been discarded like animal skins, bones, ashes and dust.

Jaratkaru

Jaratkaru was a sage engaged in sever penances. Lost in meditation, he would roam around the forests, unclothed.
One day he saw a huge pit in the forest. A root of a tree was covering the pit, and from the root were hanging some sages.
Jaratkaru asked them who they were and why they hanging like this. He also told them that a forest rat was slowly gnawing at the root and after sometime the root would break, and all would fall in the pit.

The sages said they were his ancestors. They would be relieved if Jaratkaru married and had a family. Only then they would salvation. They asked Jatarkaru to get married and then have a son who would be able to carry the line forward.

Jatarkaru said he had forsaken everything and was roaming around, naked. Who would agree to marry such a person.

He started roaming everywhere, this time in search of a wife. In the meantime, the spies of Vasuki, the serpent, told him that Jaratkaru was looking for a wife. Vasuki went to Jaratkaru and asked to marry his sister. His sister was called Jaratkri. Vasuki gave away his sister to Jaratkaru.

Churning of the Ocean

The assembled sages wanted to know why the Cosmic Ocean was churned. Sauti continued.

Vishnu once told Brahma to have the cosmic ocean of milk churned. There was the nectar of immortality inside that ocean. In the war between the Gods and the Evil Forces, the nectar was needed to get the fallen Gods back to life. The mountain, Mandara, was to be used as a churning pole. With all the medicinal plants that grew on it, Mandara was needed.

The Gods hearing this went to the mountain. It was huge in size, try as much as they could, they were unable to life the mountain. Failing, they went to Vishnu and said they needed his help. With the help of Vishnu, they were able to get the mountain. Now when they placed the mountain in the water, it began to sink. The Ocean said there was a giant tortoise in the water. That tortoise would be able to hold the mountain on its back. The tortoise was called, and it supported the mountain on its back.

Approaching the snake Vasuki, they requested him to be used as a rope for the churning. Vasuki agreed and the devas brought him over.

The churning began. Both the devas and the demons took sides and began the process. With constant friction, Vasuki began to feel irritated. The irritation came out in the form of steam which began covering the atmosphere. The steam went up in the skies and became clouds. Rain started falling and the tired devas and danavas felt relaxed. With constant churning, Mandara starting burning and that began showing up as volcanoes. Seeing this, Indra, God of Rains, had rain fall on the mountain to cool it down.

The churning continued but the nectar was not in sight. The Gods approached Brahma and told him they had been churning away but nothing was coming up.

Brahma asked Vishnu for help. Vishnu helped removed the tiredness of all, and with new vigor the churning began.

After sometime, the Moon appeared from the ocean. With its cooling light, everyone felt relaxed.
Then came the elephant, Airavat. It was regal to look, white in color. Then came the horse, Uchchaihshravas.
After the horse came the wish fulfilling tree, Parijat. Along with this gems and other precious things came out of the ocean. Then came Dhanvantari.
It was time to stop the churning, but the Gods were not sure how to do so.

They approached Vishnu. They were told by the ocean to have Vishnu be pleased by having his worship done by the wonderful looking woman who was to appear from the ocean. After some more churning, a wonderful looking Goddess appeared. This was Lakshmi who had been cursed to vanish in the ocean.

Ocean himself arranged for the lady to approach Vishnu. The other Gods and Goddesses with fans, fanned the Goddess while she decked in jewels, walked towards Vishnu.

Such was her glow, that even the Sun was dimmed. Her eyes like lotus petals. Everyone was queuing up to have a glimpse at this Goddess. Prayers filled the air. The apsaras started dancing while the Goddess walked by.

The Ocean, along with Goddess approached Vishnu and asked for his help to stop the churning. Vishnu said the churning had no meaning now, as Lakshmi was back. Lakshmi had been cursed by Durvasa to reside in the Cosmic Ocean. Now that prosperity was back, they could just leave the mountain and snake alone and stop the churning.

Leaving Lakshmi with Vishnu, the Gods left.

Vinata cursed

The sages listening to the tale from Sauti wanted to know more. Sauti continued.
Prajapati Daksha had two beautiful daughters - Kadaru and Vinata. He got them married to Rishi Kashyapa.
The two wives used to serve their husband dutify. One day, pleased, Kashyapa asked them to ask for a boon. Kadaru said she wanted thousand Nagas as her sons. Vinata said she wanted two sons, who would be greater in strength than the combined strength of Kadaru's sons.
In time, the two wives became heavy with child.
Once when Kashyapa was away, the two wives gave birth. Kadaru had a thousand eggs and Vinata had two eggs.
They careful kept the eggs in safe place to hatch. In time, Kadaru's eggs hatched and a thousand snakes were born from that.
Vinata was hurt. She and her sister had given birth at the same time, so why did her eggs not hatch. Not able to control herself, she went and broke one of the eggs. From that egg emerged a child who skin color was like copper. The child was only half formed. Angry at being brought forth before time, the child cursed his mother. You were not patient and could not control yourself. I curse you. You were jealous seeing your sister's sons born before yours, and now you will have to serve as a slave to that same sister. You have one egg left. Do not touch that. One who will be born from that will be responsible for lifting your curse.
Dejected Vinata left.

One day Kadaru and Vinata were sitting when they saw Uchchaihshravas passing by. Uchchaihshravas was a wonderful looking horse. Decked in gems, it had a regal gait. This horse was born, when the cosmic ocean was churned.

Ruru and the snake

Chyavan had a son called Pramati. Pramati's son was called Ruru. Ruru got married to the beautiful Pramadvara, who was the daughter of the apsara, Menaka.
One day Pramadvara was bitten by a snake and she died.

Grieving, Ruru went to the forests and cried bitterly. Seeing Ruru cry, the gods sent messengers to find out what had happened and to console him.

The messengers told Ruru, Pramadvara was not destined to live for ever, and she had to die from the bite of a snake. The only way to get her back, if you decide to give half your remaining years to her. Then she could be brought back to life.

Ruru agreed to do so. The messengers then took Ruru to Yama, the God of Death. The messengers told Yama that this son of Pramati had agreed to donate half of his life to his wife so she could be brought back to life.

Yama asked Ruru to go back home. He would find Pramadvara waiting for him.

Ruru was happy to get his wife back. He was now angry at the snakes and decided to kill all the snakes that he came across.
With a stick in his hand, he roamed around looking for and killing snakes.

One day he came across a huge snake, the likes of which he had never seen before. This was the snake called Dundubha. Ruru rushed towards the snake with his snake. Dundubha asked Ruru what harm had he done to Ruru, that he should be thus punished?

Ruru said I have made a promise to kill snakes. I am thinking of who harmed me, or who did not. All snakes are my enemies.

Dundubha said Non Violence was the way of life.

Seeing the snake speak thus, Ruru wanted to know who the snake really was.

The snake said that in his previous life he was the son of a sage. He had a friend called Chitrasen. One day he made a snake from dried leaves and threw that on Chitrasen. Scared and angry, Chitrasen cursed him to become a snake. He also said once Dundubha met Ruru, he would be relieved from the curse.

Ending his story, the snake asked Ruru why he was going around killing living beings. This was not the work of a brahmana. Earlier a snake sacrifice was started by the king Janmajeya, but that was stopped by Astika, a brahman, son of Janmajeya.

Ruru wanted to know the story of Astika. The snake, changing back to his original form, asked Ruru to go to the brahmanas and asked them to tell the tale.

Ruru went home and asked his father about Astika. Pramati said he know about Astika and the tale of Mahabharata and decided to tell his son about the same.

Birth of Chyavan

Sanaka and the other rishis were meditating in the forests of Naimisha. For twelve years they meditated there. Sauti, son of sage Lomaharshana, also called Suta, came to the forest.
Seeing Sauti, the other sages welcomed him and gave him a place to sit. They said we have heard wonderful things from your father, who is Suta, son of Vyasa. You, as his son, would know a lot more. Please do share with us some of your learning, so we can also be enlightened. We would like to know of the dynasty of Brighu, so please do tell us about that.

Sauti said,

Vyasa composed the epic poem but he had it in his head. He was wondering how to get it written when Brahma appeared before him. Vyasa told Brahma about the poem and said it contained the essence of the Vedas in it. Brahma suggested to have Ganesha as the scribe. When Ganesha appeared before Vyasa, the sage asked the God to help him be the scribe. Ganesha said he was willing to do so , if his pen flowed continuously. Vyasa, cunningly said, he was fine as long Ganesha first understood what Vyasa said, and then wrote it. Writing OM, Ganesha started. Vyasa started reciting the poem in complex shlokas, which Ganesha took time to understand and then write.

The epic was published after the characters of the poem were born and then passed away. At the fire sacrifice of Janmajeya, the epic was recited by Vaishampayana, to the king.

Listen while I tell you a wonderful story that I heard from my father.

Brighu was the son of Brahma. His wife was Puloma. One day, Brighu went to have a bath in the river, leaving his pregnant wife at home.
Seeing Brighu leave, a demon came there with the intent of carrying away Puloma. Not knowing the demon's intentions, Puloma welcomed the demon as a guest and offered him fruits, which the demon refused. He just had carnal thoughts. Seeing the fire burning in the house, he addressed the fire and said Puloma's father had once promised me her hand in marriage. He broke his promise and gave her over to Brighu. Brighu did not try to find out the history behind this, and he brought her as his wedded wife. Tell me o Agni (fire) if I am lying or telling the truth.

Agni did not know what to say. Slowly he said, her father may have said that once, but by reciting vedic mantras Puloma was given away to Brighu, who wed her by going around the fire, so she is Brighu's wife.

Angry at Agni's reply, the demon tried to pull Puloma away forcibly. Puloma starting shaking in fear, and gave birth to a son. As soon as the child was born, he looked with anger at the demon, and the demon was burnt to ashes. This child was named Chyavan.

Brahma came there and consoled the angry child. Seeing her father in law, Puloma could not control her tears. Her tears kept flowing and soon formed a river, which was named Badhumati (Badhu meaning daughter in law). Leaving his daughter in law and grandson , Brahma left.

Brighu then arrived and wanted to know what had happened. Puloma told him about the demon and the birth of their son, who saved his mother. Puloma also told Brighu, that Agni was not sure and kept quiet before giving a diplomatic answer. Angry, Brighu cursed Agni, that from now on Agni will consume anything that comes its way - be it something pure or impure.

Agni was hurt. Why did you curse me, I did not do or say anything wrong.

The Gods approached Brahma with Agni's plight. Brahma asked Agni not to worry. Anything that Agni touched, would hence forth become pure. All impurities would burn away on the touch of fire.

Greatness of Mahabharata

There is no philosophy or knowledge on this planet which is not contained in Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Vedas.
All scriptures start with the name of Hari.

Hari is the name of two syllables Ha and Ri. This is the ultimate and has no begining and no end.
Vyasa composed the story of Mahabharata which is a priceless work. Revered in all three worlds, any one who listens to this will get the grace of Hari.

Vyasa composed a work of six million shlokas. Half of this he gave to the Gods.In the presence of Narada, Indra and the other Gods listened to this work of three million shlokas.

Of the three million shlokas, half went to the dead ancestors. Shuka, son of Vyasa, gave fourteen hundred thousand of the shlokas to the shlokas and a hundred thousand he recited to the others on earth.

With the hundred thousand shlokas, Shuka saved the world and mankind. Mahabharata is being told to Janmajeya by Rishi Vaishampayana. Mahabharata is principle among all scriptures and is equal to all other scriptures put together.
Listening to Mahabharata removes all sins.

Like Narayana is principle among all Gods, so is Vyasa among all sages.

Ode to Vyasa

Glory to the one who is the son of Parasara.
The one who resides in the ashrama of Badrika.
You are dark, you are the son of Suka.
You do not have multiple hands and heads yet you are worshiped by all.
You are considered an incarnation of Vishnu.

I bow to you.

Glory to Ganesha

I bow to Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, son of Gauri.
I pray to the One who is worshiped before all.
I pray to the one who has a long beautiful trunk.
Your body is anointed with sandalwood paste.
The smell coming from your body is wonderful and the bees, thinking of flowers, hover over you.
The one who pleases all hearts, clad in bark, holds a small garland of beads, which you use to meditate.
You have vermilion on your body and you sit on a mouse.
The anklets on your feet , create beautiful music.
You are a beloved of the saints.

I bow to you, O great One

Introduction

Kashiram was born in a Vaishnava Kayastha family, in Bengal somewhere in the 16th century. Like Krittibas, he translated the Vyasa's Mahabharat for the common folk. In the process of the translation, he added folk tales and stories, which became very popular in Bengal.

It is said that he was not able to complete his work due to his death, and the rest of the work had to completed by others in his family.