Chapter 17 - Dharmadev and Bhaktidevi continue to suffer pain inflicted by demons

Torments suffered by Dharma. 

Suvrat said:- 

Those who were initiated by Dharma did shine like autumn moon O king, as they had abandoned the evil practices. 1. 

Gradually Dharma turned prosperous like a king due to the rewards in the form of garments, food, money, and vehicles etc., made generously by them. 2. 

He himself performed sacraments of his son up to thread ceremony and gave away great gifts in that, which made people wonder. 3. 

The devil natured people, intoxicated with the prosperity gained through their evil ways, troubled him and his followers, with the help of the king who was also of devilish nature. 4. 

They snatched from him his livelihood, money, hundreds of cows; vehicles etc., and tried to dishonour him in various ways. 5. 

He had incomparable agony of poverty afflicted on him by his enemies. Also covetous kinsmen (relatives) did harm him in that condition. 6. 

Guests, visitors and beggars used to visit his house, O king, in large number, in need of food and etc. and leave getting them. 7. 

He served them somehow in his capacity in the manner of a house holder, though he had become poor in wealth and food, as his sources of livelihood were taken away from him. 8. 

Once, his noble and ever-humble wife asked him, who endured with courage all adversities caused by their enemies. 9. 

Lamenting of Bhaktidevi and Dharmadev’s attempt to comfort her and give her strength to bear the pains. 

Alas! What a fate, O my lord, even you have been subjected to this sort of miseries, one who never does any harm even to the treacherous. 10. 

A great trouble is caused by the enemies with no reason, where the livelihood is snatched away by them along with all the possessions. 11. 

There is no food left for the food-mongers as we our-selves face hunger, what to tell the guests? 12. 

We get food once in two or three days, sometimes it may be rice, or fruits perhaps sometimes only vegetables. 13. 

As a man you do bear it with courage; but I am troubled within due to my womanly weak-mindedness. 14. 

O Lord, I am scared of poverty which is a hindrance to follow the course of a virtuous wife. In this situation if she is desirous of food and other things, she would become an outlaw and will get destroyed. 15. 

O! All-knowing, you have made deep study of many or scriptures. Think of a remedy for this misery. 16. 

It is amazing to see your unflappable composure even at this juncture of great adversity or as in the past. 17. 

Thus having been told softly by his wife, that all-knowing Lord Dharma pleasingly told her, who also was going through great distress. 18. 

O auspicious lady, hear, what I say according to scriptures, wise people cross with courage the ocean of miseries. 19. 

The physical body of humans is under the influence of their past- deeds, according to which, pleasure and pain follows. 20. 

Accumulated afflictions of the past now are being obtained by us, but rivals are said to be only instrumental here. 21. 

O auspicious one, it is certain that unless the fruits of the past deeds are endured, no other real means are available of effacing it. 22. 

Extreme miseries coming as a fruit of past miss-deed are experienced by gods, kings as well as powerful men. 23. 

O auspicious lady, once the Lord of three-worlds, Indra with his consort Shridevi had agony rendered by Vrttra and others. 24. 

Meritoriously famous king of Nishadhas (Nala) received trouble created by his enemies, along with his consort Damayanti. 25. 

The sage Vasishta, who is well-known among the realised and also considered to be par with Brahmadeva, had to face series of miseries along with his wife Arundhati from their enemies. 26. 

Thus many of the powerful persons have been faced with miseries, which were the outcome of their deeds of the past; and we too are bearing them likewise. 27. 

O king, thus having heard words of her husband, Bhakti became sorrowful as she had lost courage, not seeing an end to her agony, and wept. 28. 

Dharma said again consoling her with sweet words, ‘don’t be sorrowful O good lady, nobody remains in misery forever’. 29. 

Though the fruits of past actions are inevitable, the noble ones do not leave their efforts even if they fail again and again in their attempts. 30. 

In the same manner I am going to do something for you, to end the misery; do not be anxious. 31. 

Thus having assured his wife, Dharma thought about terminating the threat from their enemy and the ways and means to achieve this. 32. 

While thinking of quick measures he remembered Hanuman in his heart as he had been taught by his father. 33. 

O King, ‘Hanuman is our family deity who destroys all obstacles. He is to be beseeched now’; Dharma resolved in his mind this way. 34. 

Dharma worships Hanuman. 

He went to Ayodhya, a holy place reputed for granting quick-yields to chanting of prayers and lived there worshipping Shri Hanuman. 35. 

Evil-minded people were ignorant of his daily visit to Hanuman temple and his worship with chanting of hymns thus: 36. 

Obeisance to you, ‘O brilliant son of Anjani and Vayu and great emissary of Rama, and the minister of Sugriva. 37. 

Obeisance to you, ‘O great hero! ‘O valiant one, of threatening stature to the enemies and the frightening one to Ravan. 38. 

Obeisance to you, O! Hara’s incarnate, the one possessing weapons of stone and tree, one who obliterated the army of demons to submission, and the glorious one. 39. 

Obeisance to you! Who set the city of Lanka on fire, and killing the son of Ravan, effacing the agony of Sita. 40. 

Obeisance to you, the great ascetic, the one of pure heart, the one very endearing to Sita and Rama and the one who is long-living. 41. 

Obeisance to you, the monkey-supreme, the great curer of ailments, and a terrifying one to bad spirits and other evils. 42. 

Obeisance to you, ‘O eminent messenger of Shri Rama, the one manifesting in micro and macro forms. 43. 

Obeisance to you! who can take away all the fears, and the fearless one, of lustrous form of dawning sun, and the one who strike with his fists. 44.

Obeisance to you! who ruined the royal garden of Lanka, and threatened the demons, and one who is passionate about the epithet Rama, and who saved the life of Lakshman. 45. 

Obeisance to you, the highly respected, ever-victorious and the leading one. You can wipe off sorrows of devout, you are true to virtues, and you are a great victor. 46. 

Obeisance to you, ‘O ascetic-supreme who dwells in the forest, one who grants wishes to the devotees and the one who did favours to the Pandavas. 47. 

Obeisance to you, who terminates evils of virtuous, the immaculate one, the one of great splendour, the one with a heart yearning for the saga of Rama to be heard perennially. 48. 

Obeisance to you, one who is served by the virtuous, and one who is well-doer to the Brahmins, and one who is adored by celestial divinities. One who observes the vow of celibacy and takes away all the sins. 49. 

Obeisance to you Maruti (born of wind), one who remove pains of poverty, one who untangles the knots of attachment, one who is the bestowed of happiness, one who is the ultimate protector and one who professes ascetism. 50. 

Obeisance to you! O bestowed of boons, who is engaged always in contemplation of Rama to be sorrow less. 51. 

Obeisance to you! O one, who is adorned by garland of Arka-flowers, bestows me with your protection; grace me with your presence, O versatile one! 52. 

At the end of muttering names, each verse with folded-hands, he used to utter mystical words like ‘Svaha and Phut’ according to custom, by kneeling before him, every day. 53. 

At the end of muttering of the names he used to stand on one leg before him, with folded hands, and recite the hymn (following) daily. 54. 

Dharmadev’s prayer to Shree Hanumanji who subsequently manifests himself to Dharmadev. 

O great statesman! the master of Vedas, Agamas and other sciences, the premier minister of the emperor Rama, one with his body smeared with red-lead and a great celibate, humble representative of Shri Ram, O Hanuman! Take away my predicament. 55. 

O The helping one! Who had effaced the agony of Rama, owing to the abduction of Sita, the one who obliterated the multitude of demons, and who set the capital city of the king of demons, Ravana, on fire. 56. 

O one, who fetched life-saving creeper when Lakshman was down having pierced throat from the launch of inevitable arrows of Ravan and one who brought mount of Drona to the joy of Ram’s army. 57. 

O! One who wiped off Bharat’s agony in the arrival of Shri Ram who himself was indulged in the ocean of sorrow from the separation, whose heart is a bee for the honey of lotus-feet of Shri Ram, O great servant of Shri Ram. Take away my misery. 58. 

O! One who has subdued his senses, and born of Kesari, the king of giant-monkeys, and to his wife Anjani by virtue of their penance, one who has both the physical strength and speed of an eagle, (Garuda). 59.

O! The valiant one, who has resisted the assault of various malevolent incantations, and one who has awesome-ruddy look and an unconquerable one, one who cures ailments, bestows noble king and prosperity, and one who engaged in uttering of hymns. 60. 

O! When whose name is heard, the herd of evils, and ghosts and other negative forces run away with fear. 61. 

O ! Thee, one who is able to satisfy the ambitions of the devout, grant me, your grace, one with fulfilled desires your grace, as I am, wretched by the terror of wicked foes. 62. 

Thus avowed Dharma used to gratify Maruti (Hanuman) with verses that are reputed to take away sufferings, every day. 63. 

He lived on fruit or roots or leaves, sometime on vegetables. At times he lived upon water alone without food, with his wife. 64. 

Hanuman advises Dharma to go to Vrindavan. 

Being pleased with him, Hanuman appearing in his dream, spoke to him, at the end of the second month. 65. 

O Dharma, I am pleased with you, I will get rid of your sufferings soon. Go to Vrindavan and meet your old friends there. 66. 

You will have desired pleasures with your friends of similar nature such as Marichi, and others who were also tormented by the demons. 67. 

Having said thus, Hanuman disappeared. Then Dharma woke up excited and thought of the happenings in his dream as being meaningful. 68. 

Completing his Vrata he placed his son in his maternal uncle’s house and moved towards Vrindavan in the morning along with his wife. 69. 

They left their house secretly with fear of demons chasing them. Anxiously they started to move without the aid of provisions needed on the way. 70. 

Those two soft spoken, feeble though parents of the world, wearing roughly stitched worn-out garments reached Naimisharanya. 71. 

That courageous couple reaching the holy-ford on tenth day performed the rites ably, customary to the place. 72. 

Meditating on the roamer of Vrindavan, Shri Krishna in their hearts living on observance of unsolicited alms, they headed for the place of Vraja. 73. 

They did not join the groups of people, who were on their way to see the festival of swings, decorated with flowers on which the deity of child Krishna is placed and swung, doubting the presence of demons there. 74. 

Moving slowly Dharma along with his wife, reached the sacred Vrindavan on the day of the swing festival a month after their journey commenced. 75. 

Having worshipped and seen that ever adorable Shri Krishna to many hailing from different places, and His wonderful beauty sitting on the flower swing, Dharma circumambulated Him as prescribed in the rites. 76. 

Thus ends the seventeenth chapter entitled ‘Arrival of Bhakti and Dharma in Vrindavan’ in the first Prakarana of Satsangi Jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 17