Bharatiya Katha Vaibhav 2

1. Lord Ganesha and Durva Grass

Analasura was a rakshasa who was very powerful and invincible. Anala means ‘fire’. True to his name, Analasura’s eyes were fiery. His breath would burn and destroy everything that came in contact with it and sparks of fire would emerge out from his mouth. He had a boon from Brahma, the Creator, that no weapon whatsoever could harm him. Arrogant and vain that he had conquered death and become immortal, Analasura went about torturing and harassing people on the surface of the earth as well as the gods in heaven.

Tired of Analasura’s endless attacks on them, all the devatas went to Vaikunta to seek the Lord’s help. Lord Vishnu told them that even his Sudarshana Chakra cannot destroy Analasura and told them to invoke Lord Shiva. All of them went to Kailasa and told Lord Shiva about the havoc Analasura was creating. Lord Shiva too told them even his mighty Trishula would not be able to counter the evil rakshasa.

Lord Ganesha, who was also present there, heard everything. He immediately told the devatas not to worry. He would destroy the demon. Lord Vinayaka challenged the rakshasa and a fierce battle between the two ensued. Analasura assumed a huge form and rushed towards Ganesha.

Lord Vinayaka immediately assumed his huge cosmic (virat) form. He caught hold of Analasura and swallowed him up. Since the rakshasa was a personification of fire, an enormous amount of heat was generated in Ganesha’s stomach. It was unbearable. The devatas tried various methods to reduce the heat in Lord Ganesha’s stomach. Lord Varuna showered cold water on Ganesha; Sankara tied the snake, which is cold to the touch, around Ganesha’s waist; Lord Chandra tried to comfort Ganesha with his soothing rays; and Lord Vishnu gave him a lotus, which is an aquatic plant, but none of them were capable of removing the tremendous heat that was troubling Ganesha.

A group of rishis who were performing a yagna heard of Ganesha’s trouble. They came there with a bunch of ‘Durva Grass’ that they had been using for their yagna. They tied twenty one blades of Durva grass into a bundle and asked Ganesha to swallow the grass. Everyone gathered there was surprised. How could a small bunch of grass blades be the antidote to heat? One of the rishis then narrated the glory of Durva and its medicinal properties. Once, Rishi Kaundinya’s wife wanted to test the greatness of Durva. The rishi gave her a bundle of grass and asked her to bring wealth equivalent to it from Indra-loka. Indra expressed his inability to do so and sent her to Kubera who manages the heavenly wealth. But alas, all the wealth of deva-loka and that of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara together could not equal the weight of the small bunch of Durva grass! Its unique properties were incomparable!

Ganesha heard about the glory of Durva grass. He received it from the rishis and swallowed it. The moment the Durva grass entered his stomach, the heat and the burning sensation completely subsided. Lord Ganapati was wonderstruck at the marvel of this divine creation of the Creator! The thin tiny blades of Durva grass seemed so insignificant amongst the created, and yet, so profound were its benefits. Ganapati declared that in the future, whoever worshipped him by offering Durva grass would earn his grace and blessings.

2. Krishna visits Ayodhya on Sri Ramanavami to meet Hanuman!

In Treta Yuga, Lord Vishnu took the avatar of Sri Rama. Lord Rama killed the rakshasas who were pursuing adharma and troubling the sages who lived in the forest. Finally, when Ravana and Kumbhakarna were annihilated, and Rama Rajya was established, the purpose of his avatar was over. Lord Rama decided to return to Vaikunta. When Hanuman heard this, he was very unhappy. How could he continue living without the Lord’s presence? He pleaded with the Lord to take him along with him as well. But the very purpose of Hanuman’s avatar was to sing and propagate the glory of Rama Nama in all the Yugas. Hence, the Lord consoled Hanuman and promised him that he would himself come and give him darshan in the Dwapara Yuga.

To remove the burden of Mother Earth, to protect the virtuous, to annihilate the wicked and to re-establish dharma on the surface of the earth, the Lord once again manifested in the Dwapara Yuga as Vasudeva Krishna. In the course of time, Dwaraka was built and Krishna became the King of Dwaraka. One day, Sage Narada paid a visit to Dwaraka to meet the Lord and his consort, Rukmini. He told Sri Krishna that Hanuman spent all his time meditating on a mountain and was waiting for the Lord to give him darshan. Narada even mentioned that he had met Hanuman and told him to visit Dwaraka and have darshan of Lord Krishna. Hanuman knew very well that the Lord who was Sri Rama in Treta Yuga was now