Namaste,
Mahabharata has many short stories from different
Puranas. This is one such story from Aranyaka Parva, shared with Yudhistira during the early
years of the Pandava exile.
Rishi Lomasa presented the following story about why
the Vindhya Mountain started swelling and how the situation was handled.
A long time ago, the Vindhya Mountain noticed how
the sun (Surya Deva) would do a pradakshina (circumambulation) around the
divine Mount Meru every day. After a few days, the Vindhya asked the sun why he did that only for Meru.
The sun replied that it wasn’t his choice but how
the creator carved his path, which he followed every day without fail.
This annoyed the Vindhya Mountain. It expanded in
size and swelled large enough to block the sun’s path. The gods went to soothe
and convince the mountain to get back to its previous size. However, no amount
of pleading worked. The Vindhya Mountain continued to obstruct the path of the sun, moon, and stars to satisfy its ego. This also caused trouble for the
rishis and earth-dwellers in the region as the days and seasons went off cycle.
Rishi Agastya went to the south but stayed there.
The mountain had no choice but to keep the passage open, as per their
agreement. This resulted in the mountain shirking into its previous size. It
could no longer obstruct the sun’s path or interfere with nature’s cycle.
Interesting, isn’t it?
I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z.
The AI images are made on Bing.
I find it the most fascinating how every story in our puranas, vedas and other granthas is somehow linked with other stories. The more I read, the more I realise how little I know.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone! I feel the same, girl.
DeleteI remember reading this story in a comic (ACK)
ReplyDeleteACK comics were a treasure!
DeleteAnother great one. This has been fantastic all month long.
ReplyDelete--
Tim Brannan, The Other Side blog
2024 A to Z of Dungeons & Dragons, Celebrating 50 Years of D&D
Thank you so much, Tim!
DeleteIt's so interesting reading stories from other cultures
ReplyDeleteDebbie
#AtoZChallenge
Thank you, Debbie :)
Delete