|| Om Namo Bhagavathey Vasudevaya ||

Chapter – 117- The legend of Surya dynasty -1

The human mind and intellect have the capabilities to adapt to spiritual life/Bhagavath Dharma as well as material life/Vyavahara Dharma in a well-balanced manner.  The material well-being is wellness in day to day life, everything related to the material world that has impermanent nature.  The spiritual life/Bhagavath Dharma provides the ability to react spontaneously in any adverse situation, respond to the situation in an appropriate manner, ultimately supreme bliss.  It can be achieved only with constant meditation and contemplation upon the supreme Lord.  The elevation of the soul is possible only through individual effort, following strict disciplines, meditation, the practice of Pranayama, recitation of scriptures and complete surrender to supreme Lord.  The Kali era has the advantage of nearness to supreme Lord with the mere recitation of sacred chants and contemplation upon his lotus feet, unlike the other Yugas, such as Krita Yuga/ worship of Lord with extreme penance, Thretha Yuga/ worship of Lord with fire sacrifices, and Dwapara Yuga/worship of idols.  In Kali era the human intellect has become weak, there is no perfection of Karma or the purity of ingredients used for the rituals, therefore Maharishi Vedavyasa instructed to recite the glories of supreme Lord with devotion and faith.

King Ikshvaku had a son Vikukshu.  Once, he was assigned to bring meat to perform the rite for ancestors.  Thus Vikukshu went to woods in search of prey, he conducted a rigorous search and found a rabbit, he was all tired of hunger, so he consumed a little bit of the meat of the rabbit and the remaining was delivered for the purpose of the ancestral rite.  The ceremonial priest discarded the meat as it has lost its purity; it was the remaining of his meal, not eligible for the offering to ancestors.  King Ikshvaku was in a rage, ordered his son to get out of his Kingdom. King Ikshvaku was deeply distressed at the turn of events, soon regained his composure and elevated his soul contemplating upon supreme Lord; ultimately attain the abode of Lord.  Vikukshi returned to Kingdom, after the death of King Ikshvaku. 

King Yuvanashva from the clan of Iskshvaku, had no offspring, even though he had several wives.  He was unhappily returned to woods with his wives, led a strict life.  The Rishis felt sympathy on King Yuvanashva, advised to perform ‘Puthakameshti Yaga’ to obtain offspring.  The Yaga proceedings began, and that night the King felt extremely thirsty, all the priests were in a sound sleep, so he consumed water from the vessel kept safely in the Yagna arena.  The next morning, there was a huge confusion among the priests about the missing water vessel that was kept for the Yaga proceedings was already all set with Vedic chants for obtaining children.  The next morning King Yuvanshva woke up with uneasiness after consuming the water from the Yagashala, the royal physicians declared King Yuvanashva is pregnant with a child.  They were extremely worried about the health of the King and the infant.  The royal priests and physicians decided to take out the child with the help of the knife, thus one of the issues got resolved, and the next concern was the source of milk for the infant.  The infant was brought out with the knife, started crying for milk ‘Man Dhatha’, Lord Indra kept his pointing finger in its mouth, eventually, the child was named Mandhatha.