coming on your face
in this beautiful september.
i keep falling for you
for you are beautiful
and your eyes, amber.
–aaditya
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Yudhisthira, Dog and Dharma- An Epic Tale
Source – Svargarohana Parva or the Book of the Ascent to Heaven Written and Summarised by Aaditya Bajpai
In today’s world there is rarely anyone who is unknown of the Epic of Mahabharata. The tale which started way back and was finally triggered by the insult and harm directed towards the reputation and modesty of a woman, which eventually led to the victory of Dharma over Adharma. Svargarohana Parva or the Book of the Ascent to Heaven, is the last of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. It is one of the shortest books in the Mahabharata. Svargarohana Parva describes the arrival of Yudhishthira in heaven, his visit to hell and what he finds in both places.
In the ending chapters of this book, there is a story, which is not known to many. This post is about that story, which follows the renouncement of the worldly pleasures by the 5 Pandavas and their wife Draupadi. What is unknown to many is the fact that, along with the 6 of them, there was another living being who followed them in their journey towards eternal salvation, i.e., to Meru Hill in the Himalayas. That being was a Dog, who is now referred to as the Indian Pariah Dog.
In their journey, the first to consume death was Draupadi. Then next who fell was Sahadeva. Then following him, died Nakula. After Nakula, died Arjuna. After all of them the next who died was Bheema. Despite all of these deaths, Yudhishthira never stopped, and so did the dog. Yudhishthira cited various reasons like “Moh” (attraction), “Ati Chaturta” (Oversmartness) “Ghamand” (pride), “abhiman” (conceited), “laparvaahi” (carelessness), as the main causes of the fall of the 4 Pandavas and Draupadi. 
The dog and Yudhishthira were the only ones still wandering the earth. Then finally came down on Earth, in his Chariot, God Indra. He praised Yudhishthira and invited him to ascend to heaven in his Chariot.
Then the following conversation took place –
Indra – “Come with me and take your place in Heaven”.
Yudhishthira – “The dog must come with me”.
Indra – “Its not possible. The dog has no place in heaven for he is old, thin and has no purpose”.
Yudhishthira – “Then, I don’t seek heaven as well. In times of despair, and in moments of extreme sadness; when all my blood bonders had left; and when my own wife left me; this dog was there every time. He gave me unconditional love, and asked for nothing in return. The pleasures of heaven will mean nothing to me in comparison to its grief. It has done nothing to deserve abandonment and had none of the weaknesses of my wife and brothers. If it does not deserve to go to heaven, then neither do I.”
Then Yudhishthira turned his back and was about to leave, when suddenly this happened.
Indra – “Stop Yudhishthira. None have the qualities that you possess, O Yudhishthira. The Dog is Dharma, from whom you have descended.”
The Dog then transformed into the God of Dharma and blessed Yudhishthira for his selflessness, loyalty and dedication to righteousness in all circumstances. And this, with the blessings, Yudhishthira rose to heaven in the Chariot of Indra.Source – Svargarohana Parva or the Book of the Ascent to Heaven
Written and Summarised by Aaditya Bajpai
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Kalki Kaal
Athasau yuga sandhayam
Dasyu prayesu rajasu
Janita vishnu vasaso
Nama kalkir jagat patih
(Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.25)
Thereafter; at the conjunction of two yugas Kali and Satya), the Lord of the creation will appear as the Kalki Avatar and become
the son of Vishnuyasha. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers.
There are many avatars or incarnations of the Supreme Lord as stated in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.3.26): “O Brahmanas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water”. However, Krishna is the fountainhead of all these incarnations of the Supreme. This has been confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam(1.3.28) “‘𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒑𝒖𝒎𝒔𝒂𝒉, 𝒌𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒖 𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒗𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒎,” which means that all the other incarnations are either plenary portions or plenary portions of the plenary portions of the Supreme Lord. However Lord Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of God.
The Supreme Lord descends into this material world time and time again to manifest His pastimes and associate with His intimate devotees. A secondary reason for His appearance is also to annihilate miscreants and rid the world of their disturbance. It has been predicted in various scriptures that at the end of the age of Kali, Kalki avatar will make His appearance to annihilate the miscreants and re-establish the postulates of eternal religion. He shall appear as the son of Vishnuyasha, an eminent brahmana of a village named Shambhala.
“O Brahma, rest assured that I will soon descend to the earth and appear in the village known as Shambhala. I will take birth in the house of a Brahmana named Vishnuyasha, from the womb of his wife, Sumati. My mission will be to eliminate the wicked Kali of his influence with the help of My four brothers. O demigods, your expansions should also take birth on the earth to serve Me in My mission. My consort Kamala-devi shall also appear on the earth, having the name Padma. She will be born from the womb of Kaumudi. the wife of Brihadratha, the King of Simhala”. -
Unambiguous Ivory
In your glimmering eyes I see,
the magic of a moonlit night.
Your breath is what exists around me,
carrying my heart away like a weightless kite.
I am a hopeless romantic,
but this all isn’t random.
For Your love, is the most unambiguous one
that these cynical eyes could ever fathom.(Aaditya Bajpai, Unambiguous Ivory, Lines 27-34)
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Eyes
What do they say? your eyes?
With all that flame on the surface,
and hiding the softness inside.
They have hope, that you would try
to find glare amidst all the hazy hours.
Love, there’s forever in your eyes.
Your eyes seek truth, because you
cannot fathom, living in the idea of void.
They are yearning to tell you, that you’re
beautiful and you can reach so many heights.
Some angels are born with no feathers,
yet they are capable of making the highest of flights.
You called them boring and brown,but,
it were your eyes which I noticed first.
You envied the ones which others had;
love, only your eyes are filled with stardust.
How could you ever doubt yourself?
Those eyes you embody, so fearlessly bold.
Nobody could ever measure, not even the saints or
the poets; how much your eyes can unravel and hold.
Your eyes are the poem, the poem
of love, stars, and so much else in it.
They are selflessly beautiful, for
they hold on to things, they let things go.
This poem is what leads me to you,
for your eyes are the metaphor,
I have been yearning to write down.
I can no further define them, other than
to say that they are fearless and beautiful;
because to define is to put a stop to it,
to define is to limit.
-aaditya -
All The Bright Places
“You don’t have to climb on the mountain, to stand in the top of the world. Even the ugliest of places can be beautiful, as long as you take the time to look. It’s okay to get lost, as long as you find your way back. There’s beauty in the most unexpected places, and there are bright places, even in dark times. And if there isn’t, you can be those bright places, with infinite capacities.”- Theodore Finch 
All The Bright Places is a movie, which might seem to you as something you have already seen or as if you have had enough of these. But trust me, this is way beyond than that. This movie gives you a lot more to think, realise and analyse in your life.
“All the Bright Places” is based on the idea that you never really know what others are going through, that even those who seem to have it all together on the surface may be hiding a lot more. That isn’t a revolutionary or ground-breaking idea, but it is one that is as precious as ever. “All the Bright Places” also contains deeper meanings, some of which are spelled out in a literal and repetitious manner towards the end and might aid young people who are feeling alienated, misunderstood, and in need of assistance.
A must watch for everyone.
Aaditya Bajpai 