It is the description of medieval Mahabharata. Many of the
devotees must be knowing that the eldest among the five Pandava
brothers was Yudhishthir, also known as Dharamaraj, and
oldest
Kaurava sibling was Duryodhan, who was the mirror image of
unrighteousness and untruth. A cold war had always been
raging
between the Pandavas and the Kauravas right from their childhood to
their youth. Yudhishthir couldn't leave the path
of
righteousness whereas Duryodhan wouldn't leave the path of sin.
Duryodhan, at every step,
swindled the Pandavas and the limit of cheating was crossed when the
Pandavas were compelled to stay in the lakshagraha or the
house made of lakh. It was because of blessing of the Lord that the
five Pandavas came out safely from lakshagraha along with
their mother Kunti. Knowing Duryodhan to be their prime enemy, they
did not return to Hastinapur. They started living in the
forest. During the same period when, on one night, in a dense forest,
mother Kunti, Yudhishthir, Arjun, Nakul and Sahdev were
in
deep sleep, the club bearer Bhim, symbol of strength, 'son of the
wind' was guarding them alertly.
In the same
forest,
there lived a demon called Hidimb along with his younger sister
Hidimba.He could smell the presence of some human
being from a distance and he told Hidimba that today is a very
happy day, as he smelled the presence of some human being in the forest.
You go, hunt him, and bring the killed person to me
and then
both of us will eat human flesh happily.
As the God would have it, when Hidimba reached there, she lost her heart to Bhim, who was in the guise of an alert guard. Now she had only one wish which gained strength with the passage of time. She thought, "Why should not I accept this lion in human form as my husband. There could not be better blessing for me than this." Since it was getting late, Hidimb himself reached the place. First, he scolded his sister because of seeing Bhim; she had forgotten her demonical nature and had adorned an attractive form. From this, Hidimb could realise that his younger sister had developed a soft feeling in her heart for Bhim. There was no limit to Hidimb's anger and he told his sister that he would kill immediately all the Pandavas and also teach her a good lesson. But the righteous Bhim said that this woman has come to my refuge and I won't even allow you to harm her.
Hidimb was intoxicated with his pride and so began a fierce battle between Bhim and Hidimb. They used trees and boulders as weapons as they grappled one another. The Pandavas were aware and they believed that Bhim would defeat the demon and so it happened. When Hidimb was killed,
Hidimba went to Mother Kunti with bowed head, folded hands, and humbly said, "Oh Mother, I have accepted your son Bhim as my husband in the heart of my hearts. You are a woman, and you know my feelings. Have pity on me and permit me to marry your son named Bhim." Dharamraj Yudhishthir and mother Kunti both tried to convince her that they were passing through bad times and were wandering from jungle to jungle. In the circumstances, they asked her "what happiness would you get by marrying Bhim? "
But who can prevent God's will from happening.
Hidimba's repeated humble requests melted Kunti's heart. Bhim and Hidimba got
married and the Pandavas and Kunti left Bhim there on
the condition that either on the completion of one year
or
when Hidimba would bear a son, then Bhim would leave Hidimba and return
to them. Time passed by quickly. Hidimba gave birth to a son. At the time of his birth,
the baby did not have any hair
on his head and so he was named
Ghatotkachch. Being the son of a demoness, he looked
quite tall at time of his
birth itself. Hidimba once again
reached the Pandava brothers, took the blessings of mother Kunti, and
went back taking
Ghatotkachch with her. But before leaving,
Ghatotkachch bowed to his father and uncles and they blessed him.
The boy promised them that whenever the Pandavas
would require his services, he would definitely come to them. And same
things happened. After some time, the Pandava brothers were
called back to Hastinapur By Bhishm Pitamah and Vidhur and were
handed over the kingdom of Indraprastha to rule. Indraprastha was a
lonely, rocky place, and the Pandavas had to convert it
into a
beautiful town. Realising his duty as a son, Ghatotkachch reached to
his father. All the Pandava brothers blessed him.
The righteous
Yudhishthir said, "Oh Vasudev, Oh Krishna, Oh Madhava, Bhim's
son has already grown up that he must get
married now. Then
with his heart-winning smile, Krishna Kanhaiya said, "yes, oh king
of the righteous, the time for the
marriage of Ghatotkachch
has indeed come." He then turned to Ghatotkachch and told,
"Son, there was a powerful demon
named Mur in
Pragjyotishpur.
He has a daughter named Kamkantakata
(Morwi),
who is very wise. She subjects anyone who comes with a marriage
proposal to her to some very
difficult questions. You go there
with the blessings of all your elders and with the grace of God; you
will answer all her
questions, but don't perform the wedding
rituals there. You come here along with her. Lord Krishna's words can
never be
false.
When Ghatotkachch reached Pragjyotishpur, he had
battle
of wits with Kamkantakata and became victorious.
Thereafter he reached Indraprastha with Kamkantakata. There both of them
got
married in the presence of Lord Krishna.
Then after seeking his elders' permission, Ghatotkachch proceeded
towards east. Time waits for none. It just flows uninterrupted and
just passes by and then, finally the auspicious time came
when
all the planets were so powerful that
Kamkantakata birth an illustrious, strong, wise, kind hearted and
religious son named Barbareek.
There is a reason behind the name Barbareek. At the time of his
birth, he had hair like a lion's
mane.
And as you know, a lion is very ferocious and hence the name
"Barbareek" was given to him. As
has
been said earlier, some of demonesses grow up as soon as they are born.
Now there arose a doubt in Ghatotkachch's mind as
to what his
son would become. But he was fortunate enough to have the proximity of
Shri Krishna. He took Barbareek to Dwarka
and placed him at
the feet of lord Shri Krishna.
Then Barbareek bowed
his head with folded hands, touched
Shri Krishna's feet, and
said, "Oh my Lord! How can a creature in this world be blessed?
Some say religion brings
blessings, some advocated philanthropy,
some prefer meditation, some flavor riches, some like pleasure and
enjoyment, but many
argue that only salvation brings blessing.
Oh Lord, out of all these options, please direct me along one path,
grant me one
option, which may prove to be auspicious for my
dynasty and for all others. Please preach to me and advise me about
that."
Lord Shri Krishna was very happy to know
his feelings, his inner determination, and faith. Therefore, with
his sweet attractive smile, he said, "Oh son'. All the four
castes in society have their pre-destined paths of invoking
blessings according to their position in society.
Since
you are a 'Kshatriya' or a "warrior', you should use
your strength, that is you should use your might which you can get
by seeking the blessings of 'Sureshwari Bhavani
Bhagvati.'
Therefore you should first worship the goddess."
Barbareek
again asked the Lord to which place he
should go to meditate
upon the goddess and seek her blessings. Then the Bhaktvatsal Lord
Krishna told Barbareek to go to the
meeting place of the oceans
("Mahisaagar Tat, i.e Gupt Kshetra ) the meditate upon the
'Durgas' brought by Narada.
Then heeding the venerable command of Shri Krishna,
Barbareek proceeded. Reaching
the meeting place of the oceans,
he gained his perception and began to meditate upon the goddess. The
goddess saw his intense
meditation and determination and were so
pleased that they granted him a boon that could not be accessed by
anyone else in all
the three worlds. The goddess said,
"Son, we grant you unparalleled strength. Nobody will be able to
defeat you in this
world. But you stay here for a few more years
because a Brahmin named Vijay will come here and you will receive even
more
blessings as a result of his company. Barbareek stayed
there following the goddess' command. The Brahmin named Vijay came
there from Megadha and worshipping seven Shivlings, he became
immersed in the meditation of the same goddess. The goddess came
in the Brahmin's dream and blessed him and also asked him to
meditate before the Sidha Mother to practice all his skills and
learning. They told him that
my devotee Barbareek would help
him. Then that Brahmin named Vijay said to Barbareek,
"Oh
Brother! Please take care that my meditation is not disturbed till I
practice all my skills."
Therefore,
Barbareek killed Replindu demon, and Dhruv-Dhruva demoness etc., who
were obstructing in the Brahmin's
meditation. He also killed
the demons called Palasi who had been troubling Nagas from the Patal
lok. On the killing of those
demons, the king of the Nags,
Vasuki came there and told Barbareek to ask for a boon. Barbareek humbly
asked for a boon that the
Brahmin Vijay's meditation may be
completed uninterrupted.
At that time many Nag
maidens seeing
Barbareek's looks and bravery, were eager to
marry him. But Barbareek told all of them that he had taken the vow of
bachelorhood. Those Nag maidens were very pleased with his
bahaviour and gave him the boon of being ever victorious.
Thereafter the goddess granted Brahmin Vijay the boon of
wealth and fortune and gave Barbareek three infallible arrows and
blessing him, said that by using these arrows he would always be
victorious in the three worlds.
Devotees!
These are the same three arrows which we worship as Lord Shyam's
weapons. These are kept in every Shri Shyam's temple and
are
worshipped with great devoutness.
After a long time of
his leaving that area, the Pandava brothers also
reached the
Sindh pilgrimage after losing everything in gambling. All the Pandavas
worshipped the goddess and then sat a
little away to take some
rest. Then according to God's will, Bhim stood up and without washing
his hand and feet, entered the
sacred pond and began rinsing and
gargling his mouth. Barbareek became very angry on seeing this. He
went to Bhim and asked
him what kind of a pilgrim he was. He
said, "You know the water from this pond is used for the worship
of the goddess and
you have entered the pond without even
washing your hands and feet and you are also gargling and rinsing your
mouth." At
this, the strong Bhim also got very angry and
both started fighting. Bhim was very proud of his might and even after
applying
all his strength he couldn't defeat Barbareek. Seeing
this, Bhim became very depressed and at the same time, Lord Shiva
appeared at that place with all the goddess.
Lord Shiva told Bhim not to feel depressed as Barbareek was from
his own family and was indeed his descendent. He is Barbareek, the
son of your son Ghatotkachch. Now Barbareek was very sad at
what
he had done. He felt sad at having fought with his grandfather. He
felt disdain for his life and he went ahead to end his
life.
Then the goddess, who had granted Barbareek the might and Lord
Bholenath, advised Barbareek that this is not the time
for him
to end his life. On everybody's advice, Barbareek calmed down and
reunited with his family. Even after meeting the
Pandavas, the
flame of devoutness and meditation was there in Barbareek's mind. The
Pandavas also after completing their
one-year of hidden identity
stay in the forest began demanding their kingdom back. But then
Duryodhan refused them even five
villages, what to say of their
Kingdom and finally the destructive war of Mahabharata was decided on.
The battle of truth and
the falsehood was sure to take place.
Barbareek also completed his meditation at the meeting place of
the oceans (
Mahisaagar Tat, i.e. Gupt Kshetra ), returned to
his Mother Morwi, and touched her feet. When Barbareek got the news of
the
battle of Mahabharata, he also wished to see the same and
told his mother about his desire. Then his Mother Morwi told him,
"If you want to see the battle, then go. But you are so brave
and courageous that if you feel the urge to participate in
the
war, what will you do?
Then Barbareek said, "O
Mother, I will first watch the battle and then
afterwards I will
join the side of the party which is losing." Then taking his
mother's permission and blessing, the
strong and mighty,
courageous, friend of the loser, Barbareek rode a blue horse at the
speed of wind and proceeded towards the
battlefield of
Mahabharata, Kurukshetra. There, the hero of the Mahabharata, the
omnipresent Lord Krishna saw through his
divine foresight that a
brave man astride on a blue horse was proceeding towards the
battlefield with the speed of wind. Shri
Krishna thought in his
mind. "Let me examine this brave youth." And the playful God
disguising himself as a Brahmin
sat under a peepal tree, a
little distance away from the battlefield. When Barbareek reached
there, he saw the Brahmin sitting
under the peepal tree and
alighting from the horse; he bowed humbly to the Brahmin and stopped
there.
Then the Lord,
in the guise of a Brahmin, asked
him who he was and where he was going? Barbareek replied, "Oh
Brahmin! My name is
Barbareek and I am going towards the
battlefield of Mahabharata." on this, the Lord said, "brave
man, you are going
towards a battlefield and that too with
only three arrows."Barbareek replied, "Oh Brahmin! Let alone
three arrows,
of these only one arrow is enough to destroy the
entire armies taking part in this war in one second and then it will
return
back to my quiver. If I use all the three arrows then
there will be havoc in the three worlds.Everything will be destroyed
and
after completing their task, the arrows will return to my
quiver." Then the Brahmin
said,
"Oh brave youth, why are you so arrogant about your
courage and your arrows?" Barbareek answered," Oh Brahmin!
This is not arrogance; this is the strength of my meditation, my
worship. That is why I am proud of them.
The Lord in
the guise of the Brahmin said, "If you are so proud of your
bravery, then tie all the leaves of the peepal tree under
which I am sitting, with one arrow."
The brave Barbareek
agreed to fulfill his wish. He removed one arrow from his
quiver
and concentrating on his meditation, he released the arrow after
bringing it near him. Within moments, the arrow tied
all the
leaves of the peepal tree together. But Lord Krishna had one leaf
under his foot. After tying the leaves on the tree
the arrow
started revolving around the Brahmin's foot. At this the Brahmin
asked, "Oh Brave man, why is this arrow
revolving around my
foot." Barbareek told him that there must be a leaf under his
foot and the arrow was revolving to tie
the leaf. Then the
Brahmin said, "If there is a leaf why is the arrow not
tying it?" Barbareek told him
that the arrow had been
released to tide the leaves and not his foot. Hearing this, the
Brahmin removed his foot and the arrow
tied that leaf too and
then returned to Barbareek's quiver.
Lord Shri Krishna said,
"There is no doubt that you
are brave, very brave. But tell
me which side you will fight for in the battle." Barbareek told
him, "Brahmin,
actually I have come to see the battle. But
then whichever side loses, I will fight for that side." Lord
Krishna knew
that Kauravas would definitely lose the battle. And
if this brave man joins the losing side, then the scene of the whole
battlefield would change. If this happened, then righteousness
and religion would be destroyed and unrighteousness would
emerge victorious."
The Lord in the guise of the Brahmin
said, "you are surely very brave. But just being
brave or
courageous doesn't constitute the meaning of being of Kshatriya. A
Kshatriya should be a philanthropist, as well. At
this Barbareek
said, "Today, anything you want from me. If it is under my
control, I will surely fulfill your wish."
Then the playful
Lord Krishna said. "First you promise me and then I will ask for
a boon", Barbareek promised and
gave him his words and
told him to ask for whatever he wants.Then the playful Krishna said,
"Oh brave man! Give me your
head in charity."
Barbareek became speechless with astonishment. He said,
"Oh Brahmin! I have given
you my words and so I will surely
give you my head. But first you tell me who you are and why do you
want my head? Please
disclose me your identity?
At
this, Lord Krishna showed Barbareek his divine form and said, "Look
Barbareek,
before the battle in order to worship the battle
field it is necessary to sacrifice a full, brave Kshatriya's head that
is
the bravest on this earth and no one is braver than you in
this world. That's why I had asked for you head in
charity."
Barbareek said, "Oh Lord, I
have been your devotee since my childhood. It is my good
fortune
that you have asked for my head. But Oh Lord! I too have a wish. I
wish to see this battle till its end. If you
fulfill this wish
of mine then my life will be a success and will have a new meaning to
it." Lord Krishna said. "So
be it! Oh brave Barbareek
your wish will surely be fulfilled."
"Shish Ke Dani Ki Jay"
At that moment, all
the Pandava brothers arrived there and began telling Lord Krishna,
"Lord! Why have you asked for
this innocent brave man's
head? Then "Siddha Ambika, Tara, Kapali, Suvarna, Trikola,
Chandika, Praneshwari, Bhutambika,
Kodhmatru, Harisiddha,
Charcha-cheeka, Yogeshwari & Tripura etc., goddesses appeared, and
said "Oh brave Pandavas!
Hear from us the reason for
taking the sacrifice of Barbareek's head. Once upon a time all the Gods
prayed to Shri Vishnu
that Lord! The unrighteousness on earth
has increased greatly. Please lessen this burden from the earth. Then
Lord Vishnu
assured everyone and putting their minds of rest
promised that he would take an incarnation and remove the burden from
the
earth. Then a Yaksha named Suryavarcha, who was present
there, said that he alone could take an incarnation and he would
remove earth's burden. As soon as he said that, Lord Brahma became
extremely furious and he cursed Suryavarcha saying that
whenever
the time comes for him to remove the world's burden, he would die by
the hands of Shri Krishna. Then Suryavarch
asked what he could
do to escape from Lord Brahma's curse. Lord Vishnu said that whenever
the burden of sin and
unrighteousness will descend on the earth,
Shri Krishna will release you from your curse and with his blessings
you will
become famous. He is the same brave man whose head Shri
Krishna has taken as a sacrifice and behind this also lies the good
for righteousness.
Thereafter Shri Krishna and the
goddesses secured Barbareek's head at the top of a high hill near
the battlefield with the help of nectar vines so that he could
watch the war till its end. Then after blessing the Pandavas
and
the head of Barbareek, the goddesses disappeared.
The most destructive, most desolate war of Mahabharata started. Lakhs of soldiers were killed from both sides on the battlefield and it was only after 18 days of fierce battle that with great difficulty the question of victory and defeat was decided. It was because of the artful Shri Krishna's policies that the Pandavas could achieve victory. On achieving victory, all the five Pandavas began describing their own individual courage in glorious terms and began to show arrogance at their victory. Each of them was thinking himself to be the cause of this victory. While Arjuna was arrogant about his archery skills, Bhim was proud of his clubbing skills. Each of them thought himself to be the rightful recipient of victory.
Then Shri Krishna said, "Oh brave Pandavas! Don't be so proud
of yourselves. The correct decision regarding the real winner
can only be taken by the brave Barbareek's head. You all were
fighting in the battle but that brave man's head has seen all that
happened on the battlefield from beginning to end from the
top
of the hill with rapt attention. Come, let's go, and ask the brave
Barbareek's head." All the Pandava brothers
accompanied
Shri Krishna to the peak of the hill where Barbareek's head was
secured with nectar vines. In front of
Barbareek's head, all
the Pandavas began to say that they were each responsible for the
victory and were so happy that they
couldn't contain their
happiness within themselves.
Then Barbareek's head
smiled and said, "Oh brave
Pandavas! You have achieved the
victory in this war only because of Lord Krishna's plans and
policies. It was only because of
this artful God's delusions
that you have emerged victorious. The actual winner of this war is
only Lord Krishna. It's only
because of his wisdom and policies
that you have won the great battle of Mahabharata.
Barbareek's head continued,
"Oh brave Pandavas, I
could see only the Sudarshan Chakra revolving everywhere which was
hacking the Kaurava army to
pieces and Draupadi assuming the
fearful form of Mahakali Durga, was drinking bowl after bowl of blood
and was not allowing
even one drop of blood to fall on the
earth." Saying this Barbareek's head became silent and flowers
were showered from
heaven on his head.
Hearing all
this, the Pandavas became ashamed of themselves and started begging for
forgiveness.
Lord Krishna said, "Barbareek, I am pleased
with your great sacrifice and I grant you the boon that you will be
greatly
worshipped by the name of Shyam in my form only in the
Kaliyug. Devotees will be blessed just by remembering you and by
worshipping you with a true heart and piety, all the jobs of the
devotee will be completed."
The
brave,
philanthropic, generous, courageous Barbareek's head was later buried
in the land of Khatu and by Lord Krishna's
boon, and then the
time came for the head to appear. A shepherd used to graze the cows of
Khatu outside Khatu. One of the cows
while returning home
after grazing used to stop at a place
some distance away from the village and milk used to start flowing from
her
teats into the earth. The cow's owner was very worried
and upset that his cow was not giving any milk daily. He admonished
the shepherd and asked him whether he milked the cow every
evening so that the cow was not giving any milk to him. Even after
the shepherd denied, the cow's owner did not believe him and
followed the cow the whole day and what he saw was that at a
particular distance from the village, milk starts flowing from the
teats of the cow and enters the earth. Seeing this, he was
dumbstruck with astonishment and began wondering who was inside the
earth that drank the milk in such a fashion. He became
eager to
know more about this. He started getting the field dug up. When the
digging was completed, a sound was heard beneath
the earth. Then
he gave orders for the digging operation to proceed slowly.
After passage of some time, the brave
Barbareek's head
i.e. Shyamji's head was found. The cow's owner gave away the head to a
Brahmin. That Brahmin worshipped
the head continuously for
many days in his house.
This place was the town of
Khatu Khatank. In a dream, the
king of this place saw Shyamji's
head, who told him "Oh King! You build a temple here and taking
the head from the
Brahmin, install it in the temple. You will
also get a share in the fame for this." Then a temple was built
in that city
and the head of Shyamji that is Barbareekji was
installed there at an auspicious time according to rites and rituals
on the
11th of the brighter half of the Kartik month. Even today
those devotees who meditate and worship the sacrificer of the head-
shyamji with a true heart, faith and deep devoutness, Shri Shyamji
riding on a blue horse comes running to fulfill their
prayers.The Shyamji of Khatu if known by various names.
In
the midst of Khatu town, a beautiful temple of Makrana is
build
of Shri Shyam Baba.
Thereis a Shyam pond at a little distance from the temple where the head of Shri Shyamji had appeared. There is a special importance to bathing in that pond. Many devotees believe that by bathing in that pond, the afflictions of the body are cured. There is a Shyam garden a little distance away from the temple. The flowers for the decoration of Shri Shyam are chosen from here.
Aarati is done five times in Shyamji's
temple. All the times,
devotees immersed in devoutness and
joyful prayer, dance and sing. A big fair is held at Khatu on the
twelfth of the Shukla
Paksha of the Phalgun month. Lakhs of men
and women sing devotional songs on the night of the eleventh and
getting immersed in
the joy of Krishna, they dance the whole
night. And at dawn of the twelfth, people go to the temple and worship
Shri Shyam.
People take their children for mundan ceremony and
newly wed couples offer prayers for their happy married life on the
12th of
Shukla Paksha in the month of Phalgun.
In the
fair, lakhs of devotees walk in procession of foot from Reengas to Khatu
carrying religious symbols and offer those colorful symbols of
Shri Shyam at Khatu temple. Though devotees throng Khatu daily,
it is on Vijaydasahmi that Khatu is overcrowded with devotees. The
sight of thousands of devotees offering unique symbols of
their
faith of Shri Shyam with songs and dances is a marvelous sight. On the
11th of the brighter half of the Kartik month
also, Shri
Shyam's birthday is celebrated with gusto and fervor in Khatu.
!! Jay Jay Morvinandan, Jay Jay Baba
Shyam !!
!! Jay Jay Shish ke
Daani, Jay Jay Khatu
Dhaam !!
!! Jay Jay Lakhdaataar, Jay Jay Lile Ke Aswaar !!
!! Jay Jay Khathu Ke Maharaj,
Jay Paandav Kul Ujiyaar !!
Special Thanks : Mukesh ji Agarwal ,
Mahabir ji Saraf.