Jai Sriman Narayana !!
The Great Epic Mahabharath - Vana Parva describes the glory of ‘Akshya Patra’ (The maginificent Vessel which produces inexhaustible food).
As an unpleasant consequence to the gambling dice with Kauravas, the Pandavas lost all their glories and Kingdom. They exiled from their Kingdom Hastinapur and left to forest. Yudhistira was followed by his brothers Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and their wife Draupadi. Seeing the ill-fated Pandavas the people of Hastinapur, Vedic scholars, Bhishma Pitamaha, Drona, Vidura, Rajaguru Dhaumya etc.. followed them. Yudhishtira was deeply moved by the affection of his dear ones and persuaded them to return to their homes.
Pandavas drove their chariots to the banks of Holy River Ganga and they were followed by several Vedic scholars. They had holy dip in the river Ganga. While Yudhishtira convinced the Scholars that he had nothing to offer them, moreover the life in the forest is not easy. He requested the Vedic scholars to return to their places. But, the scholars were determined to face any hardships for their righteous King Yudhishtira. Yudhishtira became speechless at their dedication. In fact, Yudhishtira had no means to provide the Brahmin scholars with their daily meals; he was very concerned about the lack of availability of the same. He discussed the serious issue with his brothers and Guru Dhaumya. According to Dhaumya, Lord Surya is the life source of all living entities, so the worship of Lord Surya would promptly eliminate all their worries. Dhaumya suggested King Yudhishtira to worship Lord Surya.
King Yudhishtira followed strict austerities and worshipped Lord Surya faithfully. Lord Surya pleased at the devotion of Yudhishtira and appeared before him. As a boon Lord Surya offered a copper vessel - Akshaya Patra to Yudhishtira and informed him that the Akshaya Patra would meet all their requirements of food during their period of exile. The Akshaya Patra would provide inexhaustible food on daily basis, it becomes empty once Draupadi partake her food after serving everyone. Yudhishtira paid his sincere obeisance and gratitude to Lord Surya.
King Yudhishtira felt relieved from a very big concern. He handed over the Akshaya Patra to Draupadi. On daily basis, Draupadi cook a small quantity of food and keeps in the Akshaya Patra, it would produce abundance of delicious meals for all the Vedic scholars according to their requirements. Yudhishtira sincerely serve all the vedic Brahmins with the food. He and his brothers share their meals served by Draupadi. At the end, Draupadi will have her meal and soon after the Akshaya Patra would become empty.
Jai Sriman Narayana !!
No comments:
Post a Comment