Tag Archives: vishnu

Vishnu by Subhadra Sen Gupta – a book review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Mythology, Spirituality, Stories/storification, , , , , , , , ,

9788129147370-700x700

  • Language: English
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Publisher: RUPA
  • Genre: Fiction
  • ISBN: 9788129147370, 8129147378
  • Edition: 1, 2017
  • Pages: 48

So this is the second book in the series after Ganesh which has already been reviewed earlier.

Now I can foresee many more stories being told to kids this way and they don’t disappoint, and imagine the story telling with telling illustrations for kids and the setting is going to get better and enjoyable.

So here the author presents three different stories we normally identify with Vishnu the protector of the trio, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

In this land of India if you want to achieve seriously powerful weapons and sometimes even immortality there is an way to go about it and quite often the asuras or the opponents of devas as we know them, do it with finesse that they will end up with some of the best wishes granted to them.

So in the first story titled How to fool an Asura is that of Bhasmasura as his name suggest the asura with ashes, invoked Shiva and got his prayers answered and in that he wanted anyone he touches  with his hand to become ashes.

This as usual was a problem for the Devas led by Indra and they take refuge of Vishnu to somehow defeat Bhasmasura.

Vishnu takes the form of Mohini a beautiful girl and get to teach Bhasmasura and he being very happy about it continues to dance following the steps of Mohini,  till he puts his hand on his head without realising that he would burn to ashes.

The second story Sea of Milk  is that of churning the milk ocean and how Vishnu became the turtle and held the mountain for them to continue churning the milky ocean. He takes the form of again a beautiful maiden to get the advantage to the Gods.

The third story of Vamana is also a great one with the King Mahabali who is also an asura who gets to rule the world with his powers. But then it has to be stopped or else there might be a problem for the devas. When asked for three foot steps of land from Maha Bali, Vishnu covers the earth and sky with two steps and Bali offers his head for the third step.

So we have some nice stories that will enliven the kids during sleep time or when they are seeking fun.

The author has taken liberty to interpret things for kids and in a way it seems it suits the adult audience too. As for me, the kid at home seems to like it with the interesting illustrations and pictures that they identify with.

Tapas Guha has done a commendable job with his illustrations and the cover looks very nice.

Click on these links to pick the copy from Amazon / Flipkart.

Senthilkumar

The Charles Darwins theory of Bhagavatham!

Book Reviews, Just about it, Stories/storification, ,

Vishnu_Avatars

So today evening after my last meeting around 6 and back home got a call from Gopa saying they were at school, our old school at Chinmaya to be precise and wanted me to just join them. With the campus just 10 mins drive from my house I reach there in about 20 minutes and was surprised to see that it was a School day, and well it was also Teachers’s Day if you know!

The air of celebrations was evident when I could see  a lot of kids with make up and also in their dance costumes walking up and down. The get together happened to be an idea by our juniors and have been successful in getting some 13 people to be at the campus.

After the mandatory classroom visits we went to the ground, where the school day celebrations were in full swing.

We had arrived to the show of the Dasavathara of Mahavishnu being made in a song and dance format. The choreography seemed well done and the costumes and the lights have been well orchestrated to get the best of visual impact.

We traversed from the Matsya, Kurma, Varaha avathars of Maha Vishnu and then led to the next set of incarnations.

If you look back at your Biology or Zoology classes these are akin to the Charles Darwins theory of evolution. If you know he had proposed that life started from the water the moved to reptiles before landing up as a mammal on the earth. A close analogy of Matsya the water animal,  Kurma the water and land animal, then Varaha the animal on earth.

As we became evolved according to Charles Darwin we took the form of Narasimha that is half animal half man then we went to dwarf mode to be a Vamana!

Then Maha Vishnu chose to be Parasurama, the fiery brahmin who would go on a killing spree. Something our ancestors also did according to Charles Darwin.

Then it was the time of Rama! A wonderful human being and epitome of whatever was right  morally. May be Charles Darwin had found the perfect human being or may be not.

Then he is followed by Krishna and Gautama Buddha!

I just keep wondering at which stage are we at the present moment, the post Rama Stage or the Buddha stage.

Whichever we need to grow into the next level of Kalki may be!

One post a day – 16/30