Monday, December 19, 2005
Sage Vishwamitra
I asked Swamiji the following question:
"Jai Srimannarayana Swamiji,
I had some confusion about Sage Vishwamitra. We hear about Sage Vishwamitra in many places:
[1] Much before the Lord Rama came down to the earth. (Vishwamitra was the one who build the heaven for the ancestor of Lord Rama, Satyavrata, later called as Trishanku).
[2] Then Vishwamitra went into penance with an enimity with Sage Vasista. Thats when Gayathri mantra was given to us.
[3] During the penance Menaka comes down and from them is born the Bharatha dynasty king - Dushyant. So does that mean while Lord Rama's dynasty (SuryaVamsa) were ruling in Treta Yuga, the seed for the Bharatha's dynasty (ChandraVamsa) was sown and set to begin in Dwapara Yuga? in which Yugas did the Chandra Vamsa and Surya Vamsa dynasties gain importance?
[4] During the Ramayana time which is in the Treta Yuga the sage educates Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana in their youth by taking them to the forest.
[5] We also hear Sage Vishwamitra during Lord Venkateshwara's time which is Kali Yuga (I think so, is that correct?)
My confusion is what are the chronological timings of these events? Is it the same Sage Vishwamitra that is being talked about everywhere? How is it possible for Sage Vishwamitra to be alive for so long? How come no mention of him or any encounters with him during the Mahabharatha time, which is Dwapara Yuga?
Please forgive me if I have made any mistake in mentioning the events.
Jai Srimannarayana,
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan"
Swamiji's reply to my query:
"Priya sriman Karthikji!
Jai Srimannarayana!
We are happy for your interest to know about sage Viswamithra. There were no many Viswamitras, like other sages. Only one was there, who was highly praised by Sage Valmiki. When you talk about the age, in those days they used to live long, like thousands of years. It was not a big issue in those days at all. Sumanthra the minister of Dasaraddha, Ravana, Vasishta etc., were living even in Krutha Yuga. So also Viswamithra. Now a days, we people started comparing with our own knowledge and age and experience, which is wrong.
Another Lo:ka created for Trisanku by the same Viswamithra, who was having enimity earlier with Sage Vasishta. Menaka met with the same Sage, yes! To his own credit he made penance for thousands of years on each corner of this country. He met with different issues on each of these corners. But he was the same Sage.
Rama belongs to Surya Vamsa. After Rama, approximately 32 generations were continuing. Then there may be some gap. During Rushabha Deva again the Chandra Vamsa started in Ayodhya. This might have started after a few lakhs of years, when dwapara yuga was started.
Some people say that yugas go in some thousands. Even that is wrong. They go in 4:3:2:1 ratio, which altogether come to 43,20,000 years. The size of human beings also was not as we see them today. Recently, some skeleton found in North Indian Desert was so amazingly huge, may be between 30 to 50 feet height. There was some record also found along with it, which was not totally revealed by the Govt. but says that they were interacting with Brahma and Siva etc. We will try to put that information for you soon as soon as it is available. So people living for thousands of years was not a great thing in those days.
Finally, it was the same sage Viswamithra, who was mentioned in all the episodes you have memtioned and he lived for many a year, before and after Rama. He did not appear in Ramayana after Rama's marriage, but he was there. We are not sure whether Viswamithra's mention was there anywhere in Lord Venkateswara's History?" ¶ 10:10 PM
"Jai Srimannarayana Swamiji,
I had some confusion about Sage Vishwamitra. We hear about Sage Vishwamitra in many places:
[1] Much before the Lord Rama came down to the earth. (Vishwamitra was the one who build the heaven for the ancestor of Lord Rama, Satyavrata, later called as Trishanku). [2] Then Vishwamitra went into penance with an enimity with Sage Vasista. Thats when Gayathri mantra was given to us.
[3] During the penance Menaka comes down and from them is born the Bharatha dynasty king - Dushyant. So does that mean while Lord Rama's dynasty (SuryaVamsa) were ruling in Treta Yuga, the seed for the Bharatha's dynasty (ChandraVamsa) was sown and set to begin in Dwapara Yuga? in which Yugas did the Chandra Vamsa and Surya Vamsa dynasties gain importance?
[4] During the Ramayana time which is in the Treta Yuga the sage educates Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana in their youth by taking them to the forest.
[5] We also hear Sage Vishwamitra during Lord Venkateshwara's time which is Kali Yuga (I think so, is that correct?)
My confusion is what are the chronological timings of these events? Is it the same Sage Vishwamitra that is being talked about everywhere? How is it possible for Sage Vishwamitra to be alive for so long? How come no mention of him or any encounters with him during the Mahabharatha time, which is Dwapara Yuga?
Please forgive me if I have made any mistake in mentioning the events.
Jai Srimannarayana,
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan"
Swamiji's reply to my query:
"Priya sriman Karthikji!
Jai Srimannarayana!
We are happy for your interest to know about sage Viswamithra. There were no many Viswamitras, like other sages. Only one was there, who was highly praised by Sage Valmiki. When you talk about the age, in those days they used to live long, like thousands of years. It was not a big issue in those days at all. Sumanthra the minister of Dasaraddha, Ravana, Vasishta etc., were living even in Krutha Yuga. So also Viswamithra. Now a days, we people started comparing with our own knowledge and age and experience, which is wrong.
Another Lo:ka created for Trisanku by the same Viswamithra, who was having enimity earlier with Sage Vasishta. Menaka met with the same Sage, yes! To his own credit he made penance for thousands of years on each corner of this country. He met with different issues on each of these corners. But he was the same Sage.
Rama belongs to Surya Vamsa. After Rama, approximately 32 generations were continuing. Then there may be some gap. During Rushabha Deva again the Chandra Vamsa started in Ayodhya. This might have started after a few lakhs of years, when dwapara yuga was started.
Some people say that yugas go in some thousands. Even that is wrong. They go in 4:3:2:1 ratio, which altogether come to 43,20,000 years. The size of human beings also was not as we see them today. Recently, some skeleton found in North Indian Desert was so amazingly huge, may be between 30 to 50 feet height. There was some record also found along with it, which was not totally revealed by the Govt. but says that they were interacting with Brahma and Siva etc. We will try to put that information for you soon as soon as it is available. So people living for thousands of years was not a great thing in those days.
Finally, it was the same sage Viswamithra, who was mentioned in all the episodes you have memtioned and he lived for many a year, before and after Rama. He did not appear in Ramayana after Rama's marriage, but he was there. We are not sure whether Viswamithra's mention was there anywhere in Lord Venkateswara's History?" ¶ 10:10 PM
