Poompuhar - The lost city of Ancient Treasure

Poompuhar - The lost city of Ancient Treasure

     Poompuhar, also called as 'Kaveripoompattinam' is an ancient historic town in Nagapattinam district. It was one of the most important, busiest and richest International port of Sangam era in Ancient India, during the reign of early Cholas. Initially it was called as 'Puhar' , meaning 'Estuary' in Tamil, the place where the river Cauvery enters into Bay of Bengal, but due to its magnificent beauty it was named as 'Poompuhar' . It served as Political, Commercial and cultural activities center of Ancient Tamils. This celebrated coastline town was a capital city of Early chola rulers such as Sembiya, Muchkunda, Manuneethi Cholan and Karikala Cholan. ( The Grand Anicut / Kallanai was built by the King Karikala Cholan about 2000 years ago, which is still in use. To know more details about Kallanai, Reach to - https://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2019/10/grand-anicut-kallanai-oldest-barrage-in.html )

        This Flourishing Rich port city of early Chola Kingdom is located at the mouth of Cauvery, but this treasure city was washed away by Tsunami and recurring erosions in 300 BCE. The sea swallowed the entire beauty, wealth and buildings of the original city, at present only small village is remaining. 

Poompuhar

      What was so special about this city ? One of the Five epics of Tamil literature, Silapathikaram says that Lord Indra ordered Vishwakarma (Divine Architect of Gods), to build this city for the King Muchkunda Chola, as a matter of gratitude, as the King stood with Indra and helped him to win the battles against demons / Asuras.  In Poompuhar, the ships were screeched with wealth of seven continents, even Devas come and worship in the powerful Shiva temples and the nights were so bright that even a small grain of rice dropped in the beach will be clearly visible to the naked eye. This city was full of treasure from all the countries, filled with traders and merchants of Gold, Silk, Pearls, Pepper, Grains, Sandal wood, Diamonds etc, it was a major trading and finance center of India.  Also, this was the first and only kingdom in Ancient India with Naval fleet. Early Cholas built strong navy to fight over seas during War, conquered several countries and expanded their kingdom. 

          
         The Sangam Tamil literatures  Silapathikaram, Pattinappalai, Manimekalai and Agananuru describes Poompuhar as Capital port city of Cholas. This glorious city was constructed in well planned manner, was rich in cultural diversities, served as international trade center with huge and tall beautiful mansions, warehouses near the shore with high platforms. The detailed layout of this eminent city, its fertility, prosperity, perennial flow of Cauvery, harbor, custom house, life style of people and their occupations were mentioned in the Fifth chapter of Silapathikaram. 

         This historic place was classified into two broad division, Maruvurpakam which is near the sea shore and Pattinappakam to its west. These two divisions were separated by stretch of wide beautiful garden, where daily market (Angadi in Tamil) was held under the shades of the trees, the day market was known as 'Nalangadi' and the night market was known as 'Allangadi'.

        Maruvurpakam was near the beach with several terraced mansions, granaries and warehouses, where the working class, Greek (Yavana) merchants and other merchants from foreign countries lived in the outskirts of Maruvurpakam and carried their business. It was also inhabited by fisher folks.  According to the author of Silapathikaram, Poompuhar was a Maha nagara, a great city with busy port where horses were brought by the ships, gold from northern mountains, gemstones and pearls from southern seas and wheat from Gangetic region. 

           The streets of Maruvurpakam were occupied by the Yavana sailors, silk traders, oversea traders, weavers, grain merchants, jewelers, gem traders, potters and diamond makers . 

          The streets next to Yavanas were occupied by Weavers who work on Silk, fur and cotton clothing. The art of stitching fabrics of Silk, Cotton and wool were known to them and there are about 32 different types of clothing mentioned in Silapathikaram. Mountain of silks, loads of gemstones, Gold, Corals, Sandalwood, pure pearls, Eagle wood, perfumes and separate loads of Grains, pulses were exhibited in the market. There were various small merchants who sells betel leaves, Oil, flour and women selling sweet flour cakes. Adjacent to this street, there were Gold smiths, Copper Smiths, Bronze smiths who melt metals and make ornaments out of it. Variety of jewels were mentioned in the literature, such as beads, Chains, anklets, Bangles, Rings, necklaces, Arm band etc.  Next street was occupied by skilled tailors who stitch  rich clothes and make covers made out of leather and there are many other streets where musicians, workers, Carpenters who make different Utensils, furniture, Ships, Toys , Weapons, Tools and Chariots from wood were also engaged in there. Even today, this city is famous for its different types of Handicrafts and Arts. 

It is stated that even in the night, the market will look bright with many lights, shiny gold, pearls and diamonds. This place was home for most powerful and popular trading community, Chettiars of Vashiyas. Through this port, many traders of Chettiar community traveled and expanded their business widely in Malaysia, Singapore, Sri lanka, China, Indonesia and many foreign countries. 

         Presence of Many foreign traders near the sea shore (Maruvurpakam) entitled Chola custom officials to affix Custom seal (Tiger Seal) on the imported goods. The custom officials did not allow to remove the imported goods from the shipyard until the customs duty was paid. 

    These square copper coins which has Tiger symbol on one side and Elephant symbol on the other side was now unearthed by the archaeologists in Puhar.

         Pattinappakam - Here, the palace of King was located. King's street (Raja Veedhi) is the main highway. The leading merchants, Pious Brahmins, Nobles, Rice merchants , Farmers, Astrologers and Ayurvedic physicians stayed in different streets of Pattinappakam. People who make pearl jewelries, bangles and rings lived in the streets parallel to the western side of the palace. Dancers were also stayed in various streets near to the Palace. 

Cooks, Musicians and army people stayed in the streets next to them, followed by the streets for servants of Royal household and residence of those who train horses and elephants in different quarters. Last, there were lot of open space to train Horses and Elephants for military purpose, Early Cholas were well know for their huge Elephant Army, Kings take elephant ride in the street to visit people, riding in elephant is considered as most prestigious, powerful and honorable act. There were also a shipyard and warehouse in pattinappakam. The town has special enclaves for foreign visitors and king's soldiers. 

          Once the legendary port city had trade links to ancient Greece and Rome and far east. Traders came from Rome, Greece and Egypt to deal in silk and pearls. Big ships entered into the port without any hassle and precious goods arrived from other countries were stored in huge warehouse, which was displayed in both Day market and Night market. 
       The Rich merchants of Manigrama, a suburban village of ancient Poompuhar traveled by boats accompanied by 'Sena muka' (soldiers to defend vessels against pirates) to Takua Pa (now in Thailand) to trade in mani, gems. Ship building was one of the major industries in Poompuhar, as it served as capital port, they used large vessels to carry goods for the export. In Tamil, the large vessels are called as 'Marakkalam' 

This puhar port declined with fall of cholas and when Pallavas took charge, they moved their capital port to north side called 'Mamallapuram' / 'Mahabalipuram'. They built a temple for Lord Shiva called Pallavaneswaram in Puhar during their period. This region was again occupied by later Cholas and named it as 'Kaveripattinam' (Kaveri poogum pattinam, meaning Town where River Kaveri reaching the Sea) , but the city was affected by constant climatic changes and erosion near the coastline. So, Nagapattinam which is 50 kms away from Puhar emerged as important port and trading center for later Cholas.

           But after many Sangam era references to this city, there was no such references of Puhar in Tamil for many centuries. Though the city was submerged under the sea, the evidences for existences of this place, Glory of Chera, Chola and Pandyas, Famous tamil epics and literatures, manuscripts (Olai Suvadi) were deliberately destroyed as it was under the invasion of many rulers. 

         At last, this ancient city was washed by powerful sea storm and periodic sediment erosion.  Evidences such as inter dial zone, hydro-graphic charts proves that shoreline recession is at the rate of 1m / year, with this rate as references, the ancient poompuhar must have extended towards sea from the present coastline. Tsunami in Puhar was mentioned in the literature, Manimekalai, which states that town Kaveripoompatinam or Puhar was swallowed up by sea. 

Excavated sites

        The untold stories of ancient Tamilians, historical truth of Sangam Era and this ancient Chola city was vanished away by several major Tsunamis, floods and regular erosions. Now, the remains of the city with structures and clear sculptures was found under the water of Bay of Bengal, rediscovered by marine archaeologist and excavated the off shore sites near to the remains of Puhar city. Excavations are carried out in the remains of small villages near Poompuhar such as Kelaperumpallam, Vanagiri, Pallavaneswaram, Keezhaiyur and Melaperumpallam, where considerable amount of terracotta figures were found. 

             Many tamil texts were found from the site, also there are Tamil - Brahmi inscriptions which dates back to 3rd century BCE. Though it was traced to third century BCE, Poompuhar was much older than that, because this port was used by Early Cholas who ruled in the period of 600 BCE, during the reign of Manu neethi Cholan and his predecessor Muchkunda Cholan. It was told that Manu neethi cholan ruled during 2nd BCE, it is Wrong ! His period was even before that, with reference to the order of the Kings and their artifacts. The credibility of ancient Tamils are consistently suppressed with fake dates and camouflaged with hoax stories about religion and language. (These hoax stories will be unmasked in the Kumari Kandam Post).

    Coming back to Poompuhar, Archaeology department revealed the existence of brick figures, several relics of three ring well, remains of buildings, beautiful temples, precious stones, beads, copper coins and pots were unearthed during the excavation. The brick structure and buildings proves that it was well planned city with sophisticated facilities. Lots of beads, semi precious stones were pulled out from the site such as Stone beads, shell beads and bangles made out of conch shells. 

During excavation, temples for Lord Shiva, idols of Indra, Ganesha and Chathuka bootham, the last deities were also found. 

Metal Anklet

Pottery Samples

Under Water Archaeology

         In 1981, a team of Tamil Nadu Archaeology department and National Institute of Oceanography (Goa) conducted under water excavation survey at Tranquebar (Tarangambadi)  which is 5 Km south of Poompuhar, to locate the shipwreck. About 3.5 kms from shore, a shipwreck has been identified at the depth of 19 meters, which was made of wood.

      The remains of Wharf which was out made of burned bricks was also rediscovered and proves that this ancient port city is under the water now. The other burned brick wharfs were also found which dated back to 3rd century BCE.  The wharf has a brick structure with drain for the flow of water and a platform supported by wooden posts for handling cargo. They have also discovered a semi circular brick structure, probably a reservoir during the excavation. 

      

        The under water excavation led to the discovery of stone structure of ancient ports and temples which were buried about 30 feet in the sea. Ancient pottery dating back to 4th century BCE and roman coins have been discovered by off shore marine archaeologist near the east of this town.

    The submerged remnants of this flourished city was revealed by NIO, they identified ancient wells, copper coins, statues and sculptures of Gods .

      

     In 1993, it was examined again by NIO diver archaeologists and reported that U shaped structure lies at the depth of 23 meter. The historical significance of this discovery is that, it is much older structure compared to any other discovered earlier, it is also 6000 years older than first monumental architecture of Egypt and ancient Sumerian.  It is believed that it might be submerged about 11,000 years ago. 

     This brings up the spark of doubt about submerged Kumari Kandam, which is a huge land mass connecting the southern tip of Tamil nadu!!! The Ancient Great Tamil kingdom once existed in this area called 'Kumari Kandam' which coincides with this date !!! This discovery proves that Kumari Kandam was once existed and Poompuhar was also part of it about 11,000 years ago, the sunken Treasure of Ancient Tamil civilization.

                                      --- Coming Soon to Kumari Kandam Post

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan

Heaven ?? Or Hell ?? - Part 2

Heaven ?? Or Hell ?? - Part 2

            In Continuation from the previous post Heaven ?? or Hell ?? - Part 1

https://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2019/10/heaven-or-hell-part-1.html

         Dharma is not only being virtuous. Performing certain activities, which may not be moral, but executing those acts will establish righteousness among the people, then that is also called as DHARMA. Human actions without Conscience, acts which are intentionally hurting others and Bad Intentions are called as Adharma. 

       There is a saying in Sanskrit that 'Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha' , meaning Dharma will protect only those people who protect dharma. 

  Following Dharma in today's World....

       Dharma is the qualities expected from the humans. Like animals, we also feel hungry, eat, roam around and sleep, what is the difference between animals and humans ? Sixth Sense !! It is your Conscience, a inner voice of ours that says which is correct and wrong, a people with Conscience will follow dharma.

      For example, there is a rule followed in Hinduism that 'One Woman for one Man', that is A man should marry only one women and stay faithful for the rest of their life and vice verse, it is considered as one of the Dharma of Human life. Why i have to follow this Dharma ? What happens if this Dharma is not followed? Any body can live with any person and move on. Animals and prehistory uncivilized humans also did the same thing. Because they doesn't have this framework of Civilization, Culture and Morals, any strong man will show their power and live with a beautiful women, till another man beats him up.  At that time, there was not a beautiful relationship called 'Spouse', 'children' or 'Family', where the Culture, Morals and Good qualities were taught from the childhood and that is the reason they are not called as 'Civilized and cultured humans'. 

          We have already evolved as Civilized humans with a set of frame work which benefits our-self and the society. This set of frame work is also called 'Dharma', as these are the qualities expected from humans. In order to have a peaceful, healthy, happy life in the society, this rule was framed and was followed for about 10,000 years.  In Today's world, in the name of freedom, people are not following Dharma and going back to Alpha as uncivilized person, without realizing their conscience.         

        Have Gratitude, which is considered as a seed of virtues. When someone helped you in a tough situation, have gratitude towards them. It actually blossoms beautiful memories in your heart. Instead of gratitude, thanking them for a moment, then expecting more help from them due to your laziness / greediness  (or) finding faults in the help offered is Adharma and these actions in turn will add bad karma to your soul. Greed's worst part is ingratitude. 

        Beware ! A conscience person can easily identify the difference between a heartfelt gratitude and fake honey coated thank you words. It's not about cheating them, it's actually cheating yourself by miserably failed in moral opportunities given by God. Without having any morals, simply showing Bhakti (Love) towards God, whether you pray 5 times or 100 times in a day, it will neither reduce your bad karma nor makes way for your Moksha.

          Another interesting Big big story spreaded widely among Hindus is that "Yama Dharma Raj is the  Lord of Death. He tallies good and bad karma of a person  and accordingly sends them to Heaven or hell". Nice edited version about Hindu Gods, but pathetically failed to camouflage the truth. 

           God Yama is the Guardian of South Direction, God of Justice, he neither sends the soul to Heaven or Hell. There is no such concept in Hinduism. Yama, doesn't tally / decide your Final judgement, he can not give Moksha to a soul. Your Karma is your only Judge and only reason for your present life sufferings. Yama is in charge of astral layers of Soul (Only from 2nd layer to 6th layer) based on your Karma. 

Picture of Hell and people of Hell

           Punishments for Sinners mentioned in Garuda Purana are toxic lies edited in this Holy book. God is Love, not a Judge to punish you for your bad deeds, so please refrain from believing such fake stories. Garuda means - Bird Eagle, Vahana (Mount) of Lord Vishnu. Garuda Purana is one of the Vishnu Puranas, which contains conversation between Eagle, the King of birds and Lord Vishnu. It's not at all related to Punishments / Hell Concept.

         Believe in Karma and Follow Dharma, there is no animated hell, you will reap what you sow in this present life and there are no after life punishments.

          A sad scenario in India today is, increasing  false Divorce cases (But, it's very less in percentage compared to Foreign countries). In most of the divorce cases, there won't be any bigger problem between the couples, it's the third person playing the role over there, be it a relatives, friends or parents. Yes, Parents also!! I heard a miserable story from my friend. 

  My friend's friend got recently married and three months later they filed a divorce case. They didn't have any issues between them, but the problem is BIG ego clash between the parents of both the sides. Parents of the Bride and Groom are fighting for their power and to show their superiority. When the couples support their respective parents, argument occurred between them which leads to bitter state of mind. Though, they manage to convince each other, but their parents are not allowing the couples to be in the relationship of marriage and forced their Daughter to file a divorce, by giving false dowry harassment complaint against that Boy. Though the boy came out in bail, he is suffering between office, home and police station, as the case didn't end due to one's ego clash and arrogance from the girl's parents. The Boy is still going to police station to sign, the entire family members are affected by this false complaint , spoiled the happiness and life of the young couples. Is this really a Love of parents ?, Didn't they want their children to be happy ? Isn't it an atrocity to take their children's life for granted and enforce their decisions ? they did all these actions without their conscience, even the couples lost theirs. Morals and Dharma are lost in anger, ego and revenge !! Now a days, parents wants to live their children life as well in the name of power. Parents job is to explain about the relationships, Love, Patience, show them the  path of Good life, guide them, be a role model.

         God resides in you, do things with your conscience, never do anything which is against your Conscience. Moral behavior in one's life, will raise one astral layer up in your next birth and makes way for your soul to reach Moksha.  

     Dharma belongs to the Universe and the individual as well. Dharma is a divine law prevailing on very level of existence , moral laws bind us in harmony. When we follow dharma, we are in compliance with the laws that sustains the Universe. 

Moksha

        Hindus believe that Atman / soul is eternal and actions of the soul will be reflected in Present life and next life. There is only one thing that Hindus thrive to achieve in their life time, that is  'Moksha'.  

             India , 'Bharat' - the land of Moksha. Moksha is the end of reincarnation cycle. The soul will be free of all pains, nil bad karma and merges with Brahman. It can not be achieved by one lifetime, one must go through several reincarnations. By the grace of Gods, pure soul will be liberated from endless cycles of births and re births. 

        The main job of the Soul is to get Moksha and reunite with BRAHMAN, after which the soul is considered as GOD. India - a sacred vedic place, land of Sadhus, Rishis and Munis / Sages, place of seven Holy rivers, famous for its divinity, spirituality, where Moksha / Mukti happens. Millions of people are going to holy cities like Kashi, Varnasi, Rameshwaram and many more places, takes dip in the holy rivers to lessen bad karma and praying God  to attain Moksha. Be proud to be born in India.

          Sri Adi Shankaracharya attained Moksha at the age of 32. People believing that Moksha will be attained only at the OLD AGE, feel free to read about Sri Adi Shankaracharya. There is no relation between Age, Knowledge, Morals and Experience. Knowledge may increase by age and not vice versa. This holds true for Moral and experience as well, Age is a factor only for the physical body, not for the Soul. 

            If you do not have Conscience, you can not attain Moksha. Conscience is a eternal feeling that one will face spontaneously in certain situations. Your conscience will not force you to do specific actions which you consider it as wrong, which may be against the laws of the society. Conscience gives you the power to seek the truth, without being influenced by Powerful people, Societal pressure and Ego. 

           There are seven chakras (Energy points) in human body corresponding to Seven astral layers . 

7th Astral Layer - Sahasrara Chakra
6th Astral Layer - Ajna Chakra
5th Astral Layer - Vishudhha Chakra
4th Astral Layer - Anahata Chakra
3rd Astral Layer - Manipura Chakra
2nd Astral Layer - Swadhistana Chakra
1st Astral Layer - Muladhara Chakra

           Hindus must cremate the physical dead body, else your soul will be trapped into the earth forever and it can not take rebirth to attain moksha. The souls will reach in one of these seven chakras according to your past Karma. Lesser the bad karma, higher is the astral layer of Soul. The top most astral layer is called as Sahasrara chakra, which has highest vibration, souls which has nil bad karma will reach there and attains Moksha, it will be merged with God, the Brahman.  The First astral layer is called as Muladhara Chakra which has lowest vibration, People who has highest bad karmas and criminals will have their souls at first astral layer.  This Muladhara Chakra is also called as temporary hell, as the souls which has highest bad karmas will suffer in their next birth as well. 

        Unlike information spreaded by agents, there is no permanent heaven or hell in Hinduism. Souls which has lightest bad karma will go to Sixth astral layer, Ajna Chakra. Ajna Chakra corresponds to The third eye, which represents Intuition, Purpose and direction of life. 

           Moksha is a spiritual realization which is governed by Dharma and Karma. 

       If you obey your Dharma and have good Karma, then you will be reincarnated to attain Moksha. Listen to your Inner voice, Awake and Raise your Conscience !

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan

        

Heaven ?? Or Hell ?? - Part 1

Heaven ?? Or Hell ??  - Part 1

           In India, elders used to say that you will be going to Hell for your bad deeds , Be Virtuous and go to Heaven. Now, as mentioned in many holy books of several religions, Heaven means a cosmic place above the universe with many angels, Gods, Apasaras (beautiful celestial dancer) , Virtuous immortals and those who have done good deeds during their life time as human, will be going to Heaven. In Sanskrit it is referred as 'Swarga Loka'. 

            According to Hindu mythologies, Swarga Loka / Heaven is the place where you will live happily ever and all your wishes will be granted. It is mentioned in the Hindu holy books that the capital of Swarga loka is Amaravati guarded by a white elephant called 'Airavata'. Swarga is ruled by Lord Indra, the leader of Devas.  It is a transitory place for righteous souls who have performed good deeds in their life time but not yet ready to attain Moksha. 

           Hell is an afterlife place for evil spirits where they will be given eternal punishments for their bad deeds. Different types of punishments for the type of bad actions performed like Robbery, Murder, Unethical behavior, Cheating, Abusing, Ingratitude, exploitation etc. So, the people who did criminal activities in their life time will be punished in hell / Naraka, which is metaphorically located beneath the earth. 

         One such punishment for sinners mentioned in Garuda Purana is 'Tamisra' - Darkness - It's a dark realm, where the sinner will be tied with ropes and starved without food and water. This punishment is intended for the ones who grabs another person's wealth and asserts. Deserved punishment for the offender, but wondering how will it be executed, as only souls can be sent to Heaven / Hell ? Physical body will be left at the Earth and the Souls neither have a feeling of starvation or pain of the punishment. 

        Actually, In Sanatana Dharma, there is no permanent Heaven and Hell concept. What ?? No Heaven or Hell ? Yes, you heard it right, there is no such concept of Heaven Or Hell in Sanatana Dharma. God is not Judge to punish you for your bad deeds and pat you for the good acts. When you leave your physical body, your soul will emerge. Soul is an Energy, Atman/ Soul is immoral and divine. 

           If Heaven and Hell are not true, then how come Heaven and Hell were so popular? Initially, it was told as fiction story to the younger kids to prevent them from wrong doings by creating fear in them. It was told that if you do bad, God will punish you. So in that fear, people were restrained from involving in criminal activities and followed Sanatana Dharma and gained Good Karma in their life time. 

      In Sanatan Dharma Heaven means Brahman, a soul which attained Moksha and merged with God. Hell means, the soul will reincarnate on Earth again as Human which carries their previous birth Bad Karma, so they will be subjected to sufferings. Even though God will give you an opportunity to realize your self and will show you the Dharmic Path, It's upto human's Conscience to take the decision of following Sanatan Dharma and gain good Karma.

What is Karma ?

Karma


              Karma is outcome of one's actions or deeds. In Sanskrit, Karma means Action. One has to face the merits and demerits of the consequences of one's act in this birth and future births. Doing good deeds will give you good karma, also Good dharma creates good karma. 

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

            Karma is very powerful, it comes in your way every time and triggers memories of your past deeds. If your bad karma is very high, besides this life time, you may have to suffer in your next birth as well. That is why, it is stated loud and clear in Sanatana Dharma that Do Good and Act Virtuously.  In this universe, nothing happens by chance.

          Karma is also debt of your bad actions. Do not take revenges, When you take revenge on others, it will build more negative thoughts in your mind and also adds bad karma. Forgive them and clean your mind, Karma will do its part. Before you do anything / ridicule others, think that it will come back to you in future. Have a fear of Karma and follow Dharma in your life.  Bad Intentions, Revenge, Hurting others, Anger, Ingratitude, Selfishness, Jealousy, Rage these all are negative energies which will spoil your mind, soul and these bad thoughts affects the Universe as well.

        Your Actions are your Karma. What determines whether it is a good karma or bad karma is YOUR INTENTION.

         By doing good Dharma, you can reduce the intensity of your past bad karmas (If you realized it), but can't escape from it. Be careful with your karma, because you are creating your own future. Gods are no exception when it comes to Karma. Including Gods (Who took avatars) have to adhere to Karma. 

          In Treta Yuga, Lord Vishnu took Rama Avatar where he killed Vali, the Vanara king of Kishkinda. Sugriva, Vali's Younger brother formed an alliance with Rama to bring down Vali's unethical and Adharmic rule in Kishkinda. So, Lord Rama assured to help him and asked Sugriva to challenge Vali for a battle. During their fight between Vali and Sugriva, Lord Rama was watching the battle from distance, hoping that Sugriva will win, but when Vali thrashed his brother on the rock and about to smash his head, Sugriva called Rama to help. Lord Rama appeared from the tree behind and created an loud alarm sound with his bow and arrow, which alerted everyone in the forest and with his powerful arrow Lord Rama wounded Vali. 

            Why Rama has to kill Vali, can't he be killed by any other person. The Answer is No, Only Lord Rama has the power to fight with Vali as Vali was blessed with a boon that with whomever he fights,  half of the opponent's power will come to Vali. Thus Vali was very powerful and could not be killed by anyone in a single combat, he even defeated Ravana in a fight. Wounded Vali was perplexed with Lord Rama's attack and questioned him about the reason for his action. Tara, wife of Vali cursed Rama that her husband Vali will kill him in his next birth. When Tara cursed, Lord Rama knew it, as this is what exactly the way things are going to be revealed. 

       Lord Rama showed his Vishwaroopam to Vali, he realized the reasons instantly and also about the purpose of his birth in this world. He decided to liberate his soul from the body in the presence of Lord Vishnu, he removed his boon necklace and gave it to Sugriva to rule Kishkinda, he did not give it to his own Son. 

         In the next Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna (Lord Vishnu's eighth avatar) was shot by a Hunter named Jara with an arrow under his foot. Lord krishna was sitting on a tree awaiting for an arrow of his destiny, which will end Lord Vishnu's eight avatar on Earth. The hunter Jara was King Vali in his previous birth, who was killed by Lord Rama. 

         Even for the ruler of the Universe, the law of Karma remains same. 

         If karma is deciding everything, then why we have to offer prayers to God. If you regret in front of God, God will not punish you, instead he will give you the power to survive during your bad times. God gives you the positive energy and Hope, he gives opportunities to realize your conscience, to lessen your bad karmas and he gives you the strength to stand for Dharma, he shows you the path and life's sole purpose. Ultimate aim of the soul is to merge with Brahman, the Universe. 

        Karma is not Religion or spiritual, it is connected with Universe. Universe is vibrating with people's thoughts and karma, it is responding to the vibrational attitude that we are emitting. Energy can neither be created or destroyed, it will be transferred from one form to another form, like wise Karma.

Dharma

            Dharma means Righteousness. One needs to follow Dharma, moral laws and righteousness, by doing the right things, without any bias, without any ego, without any expectation and a decision which benefits large number of the people.

          Invaded Westerners created a fake meaning for this term 'Dharma'. "Dharma - Spiritual duties of each caste". This is absolutely a fake fabricated story, Dharma and Caste is not linked with each other. In ancient India, there was no Caste System. Caste system was created by the Invaders of India to do Divide and Rule politics. There were only Varna System, Brahmins, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.

         Again, there are many fake Hindu text books saying that "Brahmins caste was originated from mouth of the God, Kshtriyas from the arms, Vashiyas from the thighs and Shudras from the feet of the God". Interestingly Ugly story about Hinduism, wanted to create more castes ?? Go ahead ! many body parts of the God are not claimed yet. On a serious note, God is not biased and not a fool to create a caste system like the quoted text. Some Paid and Adharmic agents of India, edited Hindu religious books with many fake stories. Hinduism was ridiculed and tried to defame it by Muslim Invaders, British people, but still people of India didn't lose faith in Hinduism, that's the Power and Truth of Hinduism. 

       For a Strong, Wealthy and Secured nation, four things are very important, Knowledge, Power, Wealth and Energy. Varna system of India states the same and classified people according to their qualities.

Brahmins are associated with Knowledge of Vedas and Sanskrit Hymns.
Kshtriyas are associated with Power , Ruler, Governance and Warrior skill
Vaishyas are associated with Wealth, Smart Trading , Business tactics and Money lenders
Shudra are associated  with Energy, Workmanship, Efficiency and Hard working.
( Will put a separate post about Varna System of India)

             During Mahabarata War, Pandava Prince Arjuna who was an exemplary archer was in moral dilemma about the violence and the death the war will cause.  He was resistant to kill his own people such as Teachers, Uncles, Sons, Brothers, Grand fathers and  reluctant to lift his bow for the fight. Then Lord Krishna has given spiritual and material advice to Arjuna, Krishna explains about Karma, Self, the Supreme, Dharma and Moksha. One such conversation was " Arjuna !  If you do not fight in this Dharma Yuddha (War), then you will certainly incur sin of neglecting your duties as a Kshtriya Warrior and thus lose your reputation as a fighter. You have fight to establish Dharma in this World",  "Full fill Kshtriya duty to uphold Dharma through selfless action !!" 

         The conversation between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna was texted in a detail in a dialogue frame work in Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hindus. It is one of the greatest spiritual books in the World. Lord Krishna also revealed his Vishwaroopam to Arjuna and taught him about the science of self realisation, enlightened his the Conscience and guided him to win the battle. Bhagavad Gita not only refers to the Mahabharata War, it is timeless message to mankind. Each person has to fight his own battle between good and evil, Soul and Body, Knowledge and Ignorance, Self control and Temptation, Dharma and Adharma.

Also Lord Krishna says 

" Yada Yada hi Dharmasya  Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha |

Abhyuthanam adharmaysya Tadatmanan srijami Aham ||

Paritranaya Sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam |

Dharma sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge ||

    Meaning, "When ever there is a decimation of righteousness and surge in wickedness, O Descendant of Bharat ! , I manifest myself periodically in every age to protect the righteousness , to destroy the wicked and to re establish the Dharma "

         Ancient India was extremely powerful nation in the World, many scholars from other countries came to India and amazed by the principles of Sanatana Dharma, Governance, Statecraft, Warcraft training, Ayurveda, Intelligence in trading, energetic and skilled  people. How to weaken a strong nation ? Created chaos among people, divided them by Caste, Class, Money, played Inequality card, destroyed the prestigious Nalanda and Takshashila universities, fired the ancient libraries, stolen the wealth from kings, temples and precious god's idols, damaged olden temples, if it's hard to damage then masked them with different name (Taj Mahal), spreaded foul lies by editing religious text books, added many superstitions in religion to degrade the faith in God and Dharma, created Green revolution and destroyed the purity of Agriculture, created White revolution and spoiled the quality of diary products, introduced adultery in foods, stolen the rare medicinal manuscripts and text books, the basic needs, wealth and health of the people were ruined. Bitter truth is, it's still in practice in today's world, achieved in many countries in the same way. 

         But, our traditions, customs and foods are now realized and coming back with pride. Many people in India, now know the value of A2 milk, started practising Yoga, becoming health conscious by ditching white sugar and taking up Palm sugar, Jaggery, consuming brown rice and red rice, instead of refined oil started using coconut and sesame seeds oil, going towards traditional medicines instead of Allopathy medicines, festivals and family customs are being followed with a real reason behind it, Sindoor, Silk Sarees has gained world wide recognition and much more. Now many foreigners are coming to India to learn about our culture, traditions and rituals, they are following our customs and visiting holy places to get spiritual purification.
    

         Now,  Coming back to Dharma, Dharma means doing moral rights, duties of each individual and right conduct. Hinduism is not the real word, the original name of Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma, Sanatana means - Eternal moral / knowledge, which allows us to "Seek the truth" and following Dharma leads to eternal bliss. More than a religion, it talks about Principles of Life. 

     

             Following Dharma in today's World and its necessity ....

-- To be continued in Part 2

-- Aarthi Thiyagarjan