#jayanti

Hi, I am so sorry about the delay in answering this! I saw it, started to think about it and then got sidetracked 😭

So it would be quite reductive if I said all of them so...top 10 [as of rn xD] if I must (also I'm going to ignore Krishna and Draupadi here cause I've yapped way too much about them so just consider them still lurking) 🤭

10. Dushhala: She's the one and only daughter of Gandhari, begotten by her mother's earnest request. Life doesn't treat her very well as she's shipped off to a faraway land to play second fiddle to a ill-meaning man. After all, she's Gandhari's daughter, not Dhritarashtra's. However, she manages to assert control over her kingdom after her father's death and is able to, emotionally yes, but still, thwart a warrior like Arjun. She doesn't rush onto the battlefield clutching a host of weapons, and still turns the situation to her favour, even as she is grieving. She shouldn't have had to, but I do admire her resilience.

9. Uloopi: She is a woman who knows what she wants and is not ashamed of this. She has been married once, and upon his death (maybe even before that), has found out that in her society there really isn't much grace granted to a woman. Hence, she has taken matters into her own hands, and sought out Arjun to get herself a son through whom she can have a semblance of control. However, she understands her situation and lets Arjun go without any complaints. She is a woman of principle though, as we see once she hears of Draupadi's insult, she sends her son, her only bargaining chip, (who Arjun hasn't even met so far) to pledge his allegiance to the Pandava front for whenever the war happens, partially because woman-to-woman I do not think she could stand down, but also from a sense of debt that she owed to Arjun (wont get into if that is justified or not, just that that is what Uloopi's working with). She is a deeply independent woman who builds her own support system and reconstructs her life from a place where not many could, at the time, come back from.

8. Jayanti: She could easily be a character in a modern Bollywood thriller. She is Indra's daughter tasked with seducing Shukra the guru of the Asuras. She falls in love with Shukra in the middle of her mission, and elopes with him. However, ultimately the couple cannot resolve their differences and in a dramatic display of the "nation over everything", they tearfully separate. Jayanti also leaves her infant daughter Devayani, and the action has most likely influenced Devayani's general volatility that is seen in the next two stories.

7. Karna: I get it, he's controversial. However, I like drama, and lad's dramatic. He's Vyasa's blorbo to begin with, and I imagine he joins the fans in banging his head on the proverbial wall with each step he takes towards villainhood. Karna has a long tradition of poets and authors backing his status as the anti-hero in Mahabharata, and there has got to be some encouragement from Vyasa or else this trend wouldn't be as strong. Obviously, there's the elephant in the room of what Karna said to Draupadi, and what Draupadi said to Karna, and I do not think anyone condones either statement. Karna is also tactless and often socially inept, which earns him the ire of many of his peers and elders. Despite all failings, Vyasa treats him with a rare kindness, hidden in the words he chooses and the images he paints. I think Vyasa saw a bit of himself in Karna (and Ekalavya), and it's never fun to be discriminated against on the basis of something you cannot control. All Karna wanted, when he had set out, in his early days, before all the questionable choices and moral ineptitude, was glory beyond death and one ultimate victory. Vyasa, in one fell swoop, granted him both with just one wheel stuck in mud.

6. Satyavati: She is born out of a royal indiscretion, but is lucky enough to be adopted by a very loving father, who albeit comes from a 'lower' caste. At a devastatingly young age she trades having a child for a total separation from the identity of the royal father who hadn't wanted her. After that, she finds herself in another royal family, this time in exchange for a lifetime's worth of loneliness inflicted upon of a perfectly nice teenager who is around her age itself. When her husband dies, followed by her children, she finds herself desperately attempting to escape the stigma of being 'that lower caste woman who ended the dynasty', and pushes the other two women under her charge into a very traumatic situation. She protected the dynasty at any cost for the longest time, until her son managed to extract her from that illusion of power even as it slipped through her fingers.

5. Ashwatthama: It sure was a long journey going from the little boy crying for milk to becoming the ultimate baby-offing villain in the narrative. From class-discrimination, to transphobia, to an unhealthy parental attachment his story has it all! I find it very interesting- the process of dissection to figure out the why and the how of it. Ashwatthama is a perfectly likable, if only a bit spineless character throughout most of the epic, but with his father's passing breaking something fundamental in him it quite literally 'unleashes the beast', and fully exacerbates the negative traits he had carried within himself all along.

4. Yudhishthira: I think this one's pretty obvious, we all love to hate him. Personally, he makes me grapple with the concept of separating the politician from their policy, for no matter how weird of a person Yudhishthira is and how he treats his family, I still cannot disregard his push for 'anrishangsata' [non-cruelty], which in theory pushes for one to be kind in every aspect of one's life no matter how big or small the decision one is faced with. I might [someday] do a full post on his issues with Arjun and why and how that came about (it would have been at least unconsciously pushed by the elders), which often spills over on to Draupadi. At the same time, I do feel for him on the point of parentification. He is a man of many complexities, and I love exploring that bit by bit like an onion.

3. Drona: This is a teacher, that never wanted to be a teacher. His vengeance subplot with Drupada aside, he's never been a very honest teacher. He denies education, at different levels, to the unlikeliest of trios: Ekalavya, Karna, and Arjuna. The first one obviously because of his caste, the second one for his reckless ambition, and the third because of Drona's preemptive jealousy on behalf of his son. For the first two, even though they make one raise an eyebrow, it stings less for there had never been any love lost between them. However, with Arjuna its different, Drona is literally being paid to teach the kid, and he still finds a way to effectively cheat Arjun of the education that he has both earned and what his grandfather has paid for. Only when Arjuna jumps through invisible hoops and passes exams even Drona didn't know he was giving does he become eligible for the 'special classes'. Even after the kids graduate, Drona remains entrenched in the political whirlpool of Hastinapur for once he has tasted this level of power, he is unwilling to leave (even when Arjun wins him an entire kingdom), and yet he is utterly ineffective when it truly matters.

2. Kunti: I love this woman. She is a woman who has beaten near-impossible odds in her life and emerged victorious despite the situations stacked up against her. This has then given her a cruel intuition that sometimes crosses the line. Kunti's almost everything is contrarian. She doesn't care for regular saas-bahu drama with her daughters-in-law and yet it is her word that puts Draupadi in an impossible situation. She readily accepts Hidimba as her first daughter-in-law, but does not hesitate to push an innocent Nishada woman and her five sons to their deaths. She is jealous of Madri's easy camaraderie with her husband and yet spoils the twins to a fault. She is a formidable woman still near-overwhelmed with her own past, and often reminds me of Krishna himself in the way she deals with her demons.

Like. The whole story starts because he sees a beautiful woman and gets together with her, and they have a daughter, and for a while they are so, so happy. And then he's realises, oh, I'm running from my duty to my people, and wants to return, but Jayanti his wife will not come, not when she of the Devas (the enemy, the enemy), not when she loves her father, not when her father is the king of gods, able to come down on them like a ton of bricks.

So she leaves. But no matter, he has his daughter, and it's not a consolation, it's a whole trophy. If this separation was a battle he has already won (it wasn't supposed to be a battle between them). He calls her Devayani, so she knows she might follow the path of her mother's people, so she has something of her mother even if he cannot give her Jayanti herself. Which is fine. She's sweet, she's beautiful, she's growing up fast and he loves her. It's not as well as can be but it's not all bad.

And then Brihaspati's son shows up. He's not even bad, is the thing. Shukra can be unhappy with his closeness to his daughter if he had any tangible evils but he doesn't. The Danavas kill him anyway, and his daughter comes begging and he sees at once what the gods want, knows that they will get it. It takes three tries. Shukra would be angry at his daughter's infatuation, but Kacha turns her down, and no greater punishment may be rendered by Shukra's hand.

Her grief turns to simmering rage and bitter pride. She quarrels with her friends, and speaks ill words to a companion who tongue has as many knives as her own. She is hurt, she is rescued, and now she weeps at the city gates, asking "Are you a sycophant? Are we beggars? Leave me here, if that is so."

"No," he says, "we are not. I will see you are compensated."

The compensation is a girl enslaved.

Shukra keeps failing.

His daughter finds another man to chase, and for a while Shukra is happy, because this king loves her, and there are grandchildren to dote on, and he has warned Yayati away from Sharmistha while asking him to care for her in the same breath.

And yet love makes traitors of all men, and Devayani returns to him in tears. He should not have been surprised. He too was once a traitor. That guilt is his rage, and his rage is blind, and he curses.

"Father," Yayati says, "how can your daughter be happy when I am old? What woman wants her lord unmanned?"

Shukra cannot take back the curse, but he can offer a caveat. Yayati leaves. He hears of the outcome from others, the change in inheritance. He looks out to the path outside his home. Devayani does not come again.

She is happy, he tells himself. She knows to come to me if she is not.

The thought is not as convincing as he would like it to be.

Devayani does not return.

Hope dies last, but hope dies as well, and Shukra leaves. From the corner of his eye he sees a girl by the side of the road, her face turned away. The curve of her chin reminds him of a distant dream, but when he looks closer, she is gone.

.

May Lord Mahavir’s teachings illuminate your path always. Happy Mahavir Jayanti to you and your family!

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Let us honour Lord Mahavir by embracing forgiveness and humility. Blessed Mahaveer Janma Kaly

Date: August 24, 1908. A hero is born.

Name: Shivram Hari Rajguru. Age: 23. Title: Revolutionary. Marksman. Martyr.

The Story: Fed up with British rule, he joined forces with Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad. After Lala Lajpat Rai was killed by the police, they vowed revenge. He helped take down the officer responsible.

The Price: Arrested. Tried. Sentenced to hang.

The Vibe: Absolute legend. They say he was smiling on his way to the gallows. No fear. Just pure, unshakable belief in a free India.

He gave his today for our tomorrow.

145th Jayanti Celebration of Bhagavan Sri Ramanamaharshi

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The 145th Jayanti of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was celebrated with great devotion and grandeur on 17th December 2024 at Sri Ramana Ashram.

The auspicious occasion of Ramana Jayanti was observed in a deeply spiritual and exemplary manner, beginning with recitals at the break of dawn of 4 am. The early morning festivities included special poojas, Mahanyasa Rudra japam, the chanting of Akshara Mana Malai, and the recitation of Ramana Stuti, all of which filled the air with sacred vibrations and reverence for the revered Maharshi. As the day unfolded, a grand abhishekam was performed, followed by intricate floral decoration of the sanctum, reflecting the deep love and respect devotees hold for Bhagavan Ramana. The final aarthi ceremony took place around 10:30 AM, after the dedication of various devotional songs, marking the culmination of the morning rituals.

The celebration continued with a special feast, during which thousands of devotees partook in the divine prasadam, sharing in the grace and blessings of Bhagavan. The spirit of community and devotion was palpable as people gathered to honor the Maharshi’s teachings and life.

In the evening, the atmosphere remained vibrant, steeped in devotion, and served to elevate the sanctity of the day further and deepen the connection to Bhagavan’s presence. The entire celebration was a heartfelt tribute to the Maharshi, marked by spiritual fervor, unity, and devotion from all those present.

~ https://www.facebook.com/arunachala.ramana.35/

OM Namo Bhagawate Shri Arunachala Ramanay🙏🕉🙏

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