SAGEATRI- PART3 Anusuya Helping to rise Sun inthe East Anusuya wife of sage Atri was a daughter of sage Kardama andDevahuti. The trinity channelled through Brahmarishi Atri when they grantedboons to his wife Devi Anusuya for helping, the sun to raise in the east everyday.
The legend of Sati Anusuya and the permitted rise of the sun centres on her unmatched power ofchastity and devotion, which she used to resolve a cosmic crisiscaused by another woman who stopped the sun from rising. Here is the breakdown of the legend based on Hindu Puranicaccounts: The Context: TheCurse The Incident: A sage named Kaushik was cursed by a leprosy-stricken sage(sometimes identified as Mandavya or another sage) to die at sunrise. The Action: Kaushik’s wife, deeply devoted to her husband,was furious at this fate. Using the power of her love and chastity, she ordered the sunnot to rise, creating a perpetualnight and threatening to cause chaos in the universe. The Panic: The gods, led by Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, wereterrified as the sun—and therefore the natural order—was stopped. Anusuya's Role The Request: The gods approached Anusuya (the wife of SageAtri), who was known for her supreme righteousness and power, asking her toconvince Kaushik's wife to allow the sun to rise. The Negotiation: Anusuya met with Kaushik's wife. She did not force her but insteadassured her that she would use her own spiritual powers to save her husband,Kaushik, from the curse. The Permitted Sunrise: Convinced by Anusuya's sincerity and power, Kaushik's wifepermitted the sun to rise. Anusuya then fulfilled her promise, saving Kaushik. Significance Power of Chastity: The legend highlights that Anusuya'sdevotion (satitva) was so powerful that it exceeded even the power used to hold back the sun. Someswara andDattatreya Sage Atri did great tapas on the Para Brahma, the fire / heat of the tapas became unbearable to the wholeworld, and Lord Brahma had to accept it and gave it a form of a man. He also granted a boon to sage Atri. The boon was that at the right time a son would beborn to him. As he continued the tapas, the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu andSiva (Rudra) appeared before the sage. To his question, they replied that theywere all equal with different roles and pleased with his great penance they promised to be born as hischildren. Soma is called Chandratreya or Chandratre, and Durvasa isKrishnatreya or Krishnatre. Somatreya (Chandra)established the Someshwara Jyotirlinga, used to overcome all kinds of passion. Soma, as the incarnation of Brahma,has the power to cause any species to continue survival. Soma (Chandra) and Durvasa gave their powers to Datta (Amsa of Vishnu)and went for Tapas etc. Datta, or Dattatreya as he prefers to be known thuscarries all the powers and attributes of the Trinityand thus the NirgunaPara Brahma Tatwa and became a Guru and continues even now. Sage Atri is the firstamong the Sapta Rishi (seven luminous or eternal sages in the sky) symbolizedby the great bear (Ursa Major) and the seven stars around it. Sage Atri slightconflict with sage Gauthama Once when sage Atri was in need of some money, he approached Prithu Chakravarthy forhelp. Prithu agreed to help the rishi but, in turn requested him to help withthe Aswamedha Yagathat he was taking up. He asked sage Atri to help his son who was appointed asguardian for the yaga aswa. Indra wanted to cause interruption to the yaga presumablyto prevent Prithu from getting more powerful. So, he came disguised and stole the yaga aswa and wascarrying it away in the sky. Prithu's son asked sage Atri whether he should kill him with his arrows. Sage Atri saw what Indra was doing and wanted to teach him alesson and so advised that whoever is causingobstacles to the yaga deserves punishment and killing that person or injuringhim isallowed by dharma. Heindicated that the person was none other than Indra but no one is above dharma. So, the son of Prithu shot an arrow at Indra and Indra wasbadly hurt. Indra left the horse but again stole it and became invisible. Atrimade Indra visible by absorbing Indra's powers (like a black body absorbsradiation) and Prithu'sson punished him again! The yaga was completed successfully and the emperor praised Atri to the sky. Sage Gautama, who was present (and is a very great sagehimself) felt jealous (or pretended to be so!) and when sage Atri returned the compliments to EmperorPrithu praising him as Chandra and Indra, sage Gautama objectedsaying that it is against dharma. Sage Atri responded that he did not do anything wrong andasked the assembly to pass their ruling on this tricky matter. The assembly of learned sages could not decide and they inturn submitted the question to Sanatkumara,another manasa putra of Brahma. He confirmed that since a king of emperor cannot become so without anamsa of Vishnu in him. Atri did not err in equating the king to Indra. All sages includingGautama accepted this ruling. It is quite probable that sage Gautamawanted to bring out the subtleties of dharma through this incident. For us, themorals of the story are important. My note- I have verified the incident with Google search. The resultis given below:- Yes, a conflict occurred between Sage Atri and Sage Gautamaduring the horse-sacrifice (yagya) of King Vainya (often associated with Emperor Prithu/Pithru)regarding the nature of the king and the propriety of Atri’s praise. Here are the details ofthe conflict based on Puranic accounts: The Context: Atri, a sage of great power, initially intendedto live in the forest but was persuaded to attend King Vainya's grandhorse-sacrifice to receive wealth. The Conflict: Upon reaching the sacrifice, Sage Atri praisedthe king extensively, equating him with deities like Chandra and Indra. SageGautama, who was also present, objected to this, arguing that such excessivepraise of a human king was against dharma. The Dispute: Gautama challenged Atri’s assertion that theking held divine control over destinies. This created a disagreement betweenthe two sages, drawing the attention of other attendees. The Resolution: The dispute was referred to the sage Sanatkumara. He ruled in favour of Atri,explaining that a king is a protector and ruler of destinies, acting with anamsa (portion) of Vishnu, and therefore, it is proper to treat him with divinerespect for maintaining social order. Following this, Gautama and the other sages accepted theruling, and the yagya was successfully completed. Sage Atri restores thepower of Sun and Moon God Once upon a time, there was a fierce war between devas anddanavas (it is a never ending war in our own mind) and Surya and Chandra lost theirtejas (effulgence, energy) due to Rahu and Ketu. They approached sage Atri and prayed for his help. He restoredtheir energies so that they can carry out their duties. He alsogave them a boon that in future, they would not be adversely affected (exceptduring the brief periods of eclipse/grahanam). It just shows the enormous powers that sage Atri had becauseof his tapas. Let us bow to Him and request His help in regaining our own gloryand realize our true nature. Google Verification According to Rigveda,Sage Atri is credited with rescuing the Sun from the Asura Svarbhanu (who laterbecame Rahu and Ketu) during an eclipse. While there is no widely citednarrative that Atri permanently "limited their power" in a generalsense, he is credited with controlling their immediate influenceon the Sun during a specific, momentous eclipse. Key Details Regardingthe occurance: The First Solar Eclipse: Accounts state that after Rahu/Ketuwere separated during distribution of nectar obtained during churning milkyocean incident, they blocked the path of Surya (the Sun), causing darkness andpanic on Earth. Sage Atri used his divine, meditativepowers to dispel this darkness and remove Rahu from the Sun’s path,effectively ending the first solar eclipse. Rigvedic Context: In theRigveda (5.40.5), itis mentioned that Atri demolished the Asura Svarbhanu, liberating the Sun andrestoring its glory. Limited Scope: The narrative highlights Atri’s power torestore the Sun's light when it was blocked by Rahu during an eclipse, but itdoes not suggest that Atri neutralized or restricted Rahu and Ketu's power ina, permanent manner for all time. After this incident, Rahu and Ketu continue to be knownas celestial entities that periodically cause eclipses (Grahana), which represent their temporary,recurring revenge Advising Dronacharyato perform his Brahmin Dharma Sage Atri had a close connection with Mahabharatha. Drona was made the head ofthe Kaurava army after Bhisma stopped fight with Sikhandi. Dronacharya foughtferociously and the number of wounded and the dead soldiers was thousands.Their cry of pain rented the skies; blood flowed on the battle field. Deadbodies got piled up and provided a feast for the birds of prey. In this carnagewhich went beyond all human estimation, Drona stood like a mad hero of demonic proportion. Sage Atri wasvery much worried of this because if Drona continued this he would causedestruction and human misery beyond hellish proportions. Atri came to the battle field along with six of hiscompanions. It was at thistime Dharmaraya had shouted at the instance of Sri Krishna saying thatAshwathama was killed and this put Drona off completely. He lost allhope in his life. He became mad with anger and this sent shock wave all around. Sage Atri felt sad for him and talked to him in a friendlymanner consoling him, "All along you have done everything against Dharma.This war you are engaged in is the best proof. It is enough now and should bestopped. Stop this carnage. Youare a good man. This act is not in tune with your status. You are a scholar ofVedanta par excellence. You are a Brahman andyou have got to practice dhrama. This cruel act does not befit you. Give up your weapons; fix your mindin our glorious Sanathana Dharma. I am sorry that you have wielded the most terriblebrahmastra". Then Dronacharya decided to give up his arms and stopkilling. He drove awayhis anger jealousy and sense of revenge and his heart became pure. He sat in a yogic posture and started to meditate amidst thecries of pain, killing, and flow of blood on the battle field. What a greatchange!! He concentrated onlord Vishnu and closed his eyes and never opened them again. He thenleft his body and started his journey towards the lord. If Atri had not come Drona would have destroyed the battle field. Henceage Atri's kind nature helped to save many men. I will continue innext posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/365333795.1554596.1772087704472%40mail.yahoo.com.
