Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
The Kings Vena and Prithu
Some generations further down from Dhruva, there was a king called Vena. Vena was not a good king at all. He announced that there would be no sacrifices on earth. There was absoultely no reason for praying to Vishnu, wasn’t king Vena superior to even Vishnu? The sages tried to persuade the King to change his ways, but Vena was not in a mood to listen.
The sages therefore decided that Vena should die. They chanted mantras over a straw and killed Vena with the straw. The problem however was that who would rule the kingdom in Vena’s place? Vena did not have any children. The sages then began to knead the dead king’s thighs. After the kneading, a dwarf who looked like a short pillar came out of the thighs.
"What shall I do?", asked the dwarf.
"Sit," said the sages and the dwarf came to be called nishada from the word for sitting. Later, the sons of Nishada came to live in the Vindhya mountains.
The sages then began to knead the dead body’s right hand. And a shining man came out because of the kneading. This was Prithu. As he was born, a divine bow, arrows and armour fell on him from the skies. Everyone was happy at Prithu’s birth. Even Vena no longer had to go to the hell that one has to go to if one does not have a son. The rivers and the oceans arrived with water and jewels for Prithu’s coronation. The gods and Brahma arrived to bathe Prithu before the coronation. Brahma noticed that Prithu had the mark of a chakra (Vishnu’s weapon) on his right hand. This was a good men, because it meant that Prithu was decended from Vishnu. Only kings whom even the gods cannot rival have this sign on their hands.
Prithu was crowned. He was a powerful king. The waters of the ocean trembled when he passed and the mountains made a path for him. His flag was never lowered. The earth yielded crops without any ploughing. The cows gave a lot of milk and the flowers were full of honey. As soon as he was born, Prithu arranged for a sacrifice (yajna). From this sacrifice were born the sutas and the magadhas, who chanted songs in Prithu’s praise.
But there had been a short period between Vena’s death and Prithu’s birth when there had been no king on the land. The land does not flourish in the absence of a king. The herbs disappeared from the earth and people were hungry. These people went to Prithu and begged him to restore the herbs. To obtain the herbs, Prithu took up his bow and arrow and began to chase the earth. The earth adopted the form of cow and started to run. But wherever the earth went, Prithu followed. Finally, Prithu caught up with the earth and the earth restored whatever few herbs were left. To ensure that the earth returned to normalcy and once again became fertile. Prithu levelled out the mountains with his bow. In the earlier creation, there had been no cities, villages, grains, animal husbandry, agriculture or trade.
It was because of Prithu that all this became possible. This is the reason why the earth is called prithivi.
Some generations further down from Dhruva, there was a king called Vena. Vena was not a good king at all. He announced that there would be no sacrifices on earth. There was absoultely no reason for praying to Vishnu, wasn’t king Vena superior to even Vishnu? The sages tried to persuade the King to change his ways, but Vena was not in a mood to listen.
The sages therefore decided that Vena should die. They chanted mantras over a straw and killed Vena with the straw. The problem however was that who would rule the kingdom in Vena’s place? Vena did not have any children. The sages then began to knead the dead king’s thighs. After the kneading, a dwarf who looked like a short pillar came out of the thighs.
"What shall I do?", asked the dwarf.
"Sit," said the sages and the dwarf came to be called nishada from the word for sitting. Later, the sons of Nishada came to live in the Vindhya mountains.
The sages then began to knead the dead body’s right hand. And a shining man came out because of the kneading. This was Prithu. As he was born, a divine bow, arrows and armour fell on him from the skies. Everyone was happy at Prithu’s birth. Even Vena no longer had to go to the hell that one has to go to if one does not have a son. The rivers and the oceans arrived with water and jewels for Prithu’s coronation. The gods and Brahma arrived to bathe Prithu before the coronation. Brahma noticed that Prithu had the mark of a chakra (Vishnu’s weapon) on his right hand. This was a good men, because it meant that Prithu was decended from Vishnu. Only kings whom even the gods cannot rival have this sign on their hands.
Prithu was crowned. He was a powerful king. The waters of the ocean trembled when he passed and the mountains made a path for him. His flag was never lowered. The earth yielded crops without any ploughing. The cows gave a lot of milk and the flowers were full of honey. As soon as he was born, Prithu arranged for a sacrifice (yajna). From this sacrifice were born the sutas and the magadhas, who chanted songs in Prithu’s praise.
But there had been a short period between Vena’s death and Prithu’s birth when there had been no king on the land. The land does not flourish in the absence of a king. The herbs disappeared from the earth and people were hungry. These people went to Prithu and begged him to restore the herbs. To obtain the herbs, Prithu took up his bow and arrow and began to chase the earth. The earth adopted the form of cow and started to run. But wherever the earth went, Prithu followed. Finally, Prithu caught up with the earth and the earth restored whatever few herbs were left. To ensure that the earth returned to normalcy and once again became fertile. Prithu levelled out the mountains with his bow. In the earlier creation, there had been no cities, villages, grains, animal husbandry, agriculture or trade.
It was because of Prithu that all this became possible. This is the reason why the earth is called prithivi.
Note:
From his very birth, Dhruva’s son, Utkala was a liberated soul. He was equipoised, for he could see everything resting in the Supreme Soul, and the Supreme Soul present within everyone’s heart. So that he could avoid most of material entanglement, Utkala remained like a foolish, deaf, dumb and blind person, something like a flameless fire covered by ashes. For this reason, the elderly family members and ministers considered Utkala to be stupid and mad and so they installed his younger brother, Vatsara upon the royal throne.
In the fifth generation after Dhruva appeared Chakshusha, who became the sixth Manu. Chakshusha begot twelve sons and the youngest, Ulmuka begot six sons, the eldest of whom was named Anga.
Once, King Anga performed an ashvamedha sacrifice, and yet even though the brahmanas were fully qualified and knew how to invite the demigods, none of the denizens of heaven appeared.
The priests then informed Anga, “O King, although we have properly offered the ghee in sacrifice, the demigods will not accept it. We know that you collected all of the sacrificial paraphernalia with great care, and certainly our chanting of the Vedic mantras was not deficient in any way. Therefore, we cannot understand why the demigods should feel insulted or neglected and thus refuse to accept their sacrificial shares.”
Upon hearing this, King Anga became very aggrieved. He took permission to break his silence and inquired, “My dear brahmanas, kindly tell what offense I committed so that the demigods refuse to come here and accept their shares of the sacrificial offerings.”
The head priest replied, “O King, you have not been the least bit sinful or offensive in this life, not even within your mind. But, in your previous life you performed sinful activities that have now rendered you sonless, in spite of your being otherwise qualified. Now, if you pray to the Supreme Lord for a son, and then perform a particular sacrifice for this purpose, your desire will certainly be fulfilled. When Lord Hari, who is the supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices, comes here to benedict you, then all of His servants (the demigods) will accompany Him, to accept their shares.”
Thereafter, when the priests offered oblations to Lord Vishnu, a person appeared from the sacrificial fire who was dressed in white and carried a golden pot filled with sweet-rice. After taking permission from the brahmanas, King Anga very respectfully received the pot of sweet-rice in his joined hands. Then, after smelling the preparation, the King offered a portion to his wife, Sunitha. After eating that food, which had the power to produce a male child, the Queen was impregnated by the King. Thereafter, in due course of time,Sunitha gave birth to a son named Vena, and because she was the daughter of death personified, the child was considered to be partially in the dynasty of Irreligion.
A daughter generally takes after her father, and a son takes after his mother. Therefore, Vena took after his grandfather, and so he grew up to be very irreligious. These circumstances are certainly very unusual, but the fact is that sometimes the Lord arranges an unfortunate wife or bad child for his devotee, so that he can become more easily detached from household life.
The Lord does not shower His grace or favor to all. He is known as All merciful but special favor is given only to a chosen few.
Why giving birth to a devotee child is so important is mention in this historical story and it says the ancestors develop hope of getting released from their postion for higher life if a devotee is born in their line/dynasty
The effects of Pratiloma marriages and its effects are also seen through this Historical story.
The power of Brahmanas to have the ability to detron a irreligious king and their responsibily to restore a regitious Kings is also seen in this Historical story
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