Just as the sons of a rich man often become attracted towards women and prostitutes, similarly these two sons of Kubera were also victims of women and sex....
Har Har Mahadev Dear readers, How are you, we hope you are fine
Salvation of Nalkuvar and Manigreev by krishna
He supports them in every era. He redeems them, frees them from curses. Similarly, once Lord saved two twin brothers named Manigreev and Nalkuvar in their childhood.
Let us read together about the history of these two brothers, who were they, what were they, why both of them got cursed.
Who were Nalkuvar and Manigreev and by which tree are they known? Nalkuvar and Manigreev are known as Arjun tree. There is a history behind this pair of Arjun trees.
In their previous birth, they were born as sons of Kuber in human form and their names were Nalkuvar and Manigreev.
Who cursed Nalkuvar and Manigreev?
Nalkuvar and Manigreev were cursed by Sage Narad because they had forgotten their duty in intoxication. But Sage Narad had also given a boon along with the curse that they would be redeemed by getting the darshan of Lord Krishna.
Salvation of Nalkuvar and Manigreev
Dear readers, here in this story, the story of Nalkuvar and Manigreev being cursed and their redemption by Sage Narad and Lord Krishna has been described.
Once upon a time, both the great gods named Nalkuvar and Manigreev were the sons of Kuber, the great devotee of Lord Shiva and the treasurer of the gods. By the grace of Lord Shiva, Kuber's material wealth knew no bounds.
Just as the sons of a rich man often become attracted towards women and prostitutes, similarly these two sons of Kubera were also victims of women and sex.
Once, both of them entered the garden of Lord Shiva situated in Kailash region on the banks of Mandakini Ganga in the desire of enjoyment.
There, after drinking alcohol, they got engrossed in listening to the sweet music of the beautiful women who had accompanied them in that garden full of fragrant flowers.
In that intoxicated state, both of them entered the water of Ganga filled with lotus flowers and started enjoying with the girls like an elephant does with female elephants inside the water.
When they were enjoying water sports like this, suddenly Sage Narad arrived from there. He understood that both the gods Nalkubar and Manigreev were so intoxicated that they could not even see them coming.
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The girls were not as intoxicated as the gods, and being naked, they felt very ashamed in front of Sage Narad and started covering their bodies in a hurry.
Both the divine sons of Kubera were so intoxicated that they did not care about the presence of Narada, hence they could not cover their bodies.
When Narada saw that these two had fallen so low due to their intoxication, he wished for their welfare and showed his unconditional kindness by cursing them.
Since the Rishi was kind to them, he wanted them to give up the false pleasure of drinking in temples and the company of young women and to have the direct vision of Krishna, so he thought of cursing them.
He said that the attraction towards material pleasures is due to the increase of the Rajo Guna. In the material world, when a man gains wealth and prosperity, he generally gets addicted to three things: intoxication, sex and prostitution. Wealthy men become so arrogant due to the accumulation of wealth that they open slaughterhouses and kill animals thinking that they will never die.
Such foolish persons forget the natural laws and indulge in carnal desires. They forget that the physical body, even if man advances in civilization and attains the status of gods, will eventually burn to ashes.
And as long as one is alive, whatever may be the external condition of the body, the inside is filled with only feces, urine and various types of worms.
Thus, by being jealous and indulging in violence against other living beings, the materialist never understands the ultimate goal of life and without knowing the goal of life, he moves towards hell in the next life.
In the next life, such foolish men commit all kinds of sins because of this mortal body and they are not even able to think whether this body is actually theirs or not.
Generally it is said that the body belongs to the one who nurtures it. Therefore, a man should think whether this body belongs to him or to the master whom he serves.
The master of slaves claims complete ownership over his slaves because he provides them food.
The question can then be asked whether this body belongs to the father who is the seed-giver of this body or to the mother who developed the body of the child in her womb?
Foolish people keep committing all kinds of sins because of the misconception that the soul and the body are one. But man must be intelligent enough to understand whose body this is.
The foolish man kills other animals for his body, but he does not think that this body belongs to him, or that of his father, or mother or maternal grandfather.
Sometimes or the father gives his daughter to a man so that he can retrieve the son (grandson) of the daughter as his son.
This body can also be of such a strong person, who makes him work forcibly. Sometimes the body of the slave is sold to a master and from that day his body becomes that of the master.
And at the end of life the same body becomes of fire because the body is dedicated to the fire and it becomes alkali by burning. Or this body is thrown on the road, so that it can be eaten by dogs and vultures.
Before committing all kinds of sins for the maintenance of the body, one should know whose body is this.
Ultimately it is concluded that the body is the result of material nature and in the end it is found in nature itself, so the conclusion is that the body is of nature itself. One should not even think that this body is his body.
Why should a man engage in murder to show false selfishness? Why should he kill innocent animals for body rearing?
When a man is mad in the false prestige of opulence, he does not care for any kind of moral preaching, becomes instinctive in alcohol, pramada and animal slaughter.
In such a situation, the man of poverty is better because the poor man thinks himself in the context of other living beings.
A poor person often does not want to harm other living beings, because he can easily understand that when he gets a wound, he suffers.
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Therefore, Narada Rishi thought that since both the deities named Nalakuvar and Manigriva are blind with false prestige, they should be kept in a stateless state. Ja tan lage soi tan jaane-one wise- living in a state of poverty, never wants anyone else to attain this stage.
In general it is seen that one who rises from poverty becomes rich, he becomes some or the other charitable institution at the end of life, so that other poor people can benefit.
In short, a compassionate person sympathizes with the happiness and sorrow of others. The poor person rarely swells with pride – often he is devoid of all the frenzy.
By the grace of God by the grace of God, Narad Muni, whatever he gets for his sustenance, he remains satisfied with that. Living in a state of poverty is a kind of penance.
Therefore, according to Vedic culture, Brahmins often want to remain poor to avoid the false prestige of material opulence.
With the advancement in material prosperity, false prestige is the biggest step for spiritual upliftment.
A person suffering from poverty cannot become excessively fat by eating more and more; And because of not being able to eat more than necessary, his senses do not remain very fickle. When the senses are not very fickle, they cannot become violent either.
The second advantage of poverty is that a saint can easily enter the house of a poor person and the poor person can take advantage of the company of a saint.
A very wealthy person does not allow anyone to enter his house, so a saint cannot go to his house. According to the Vedic system, a saint takes the place of a sannyasi, so he can go to any house on the pretext of asking for something from a householder.
A householder who is busy with household chores and generally forgets everything about spiritual progress can benefit from the company of a saint. A poor man gets ample opportunity to be liberated by the company of a saint.
If people remain deprived of the company of saints and devotees of God and remain proud of material wealth and false prestige, then what is the benefit of it?
Thereafter Sage Narad thought that it is his duty to bring these gods to such a state where they are not falsely proud of material wealth and prestige.
Narada was kind and wanted to rescue them from their sinful life. But they were in the mode of ignorance and were involved in sensual life as they could not control their senses.It was the duty of a saint like Narada to save them from this despicable condition.
In the animal life, the animal does not have the knowledge that it is naked. But Kuveer was the treasurer of the gods and a very responsible person and both Nalakuvar and Manigreev were his sons.
Yet they had become so animal-like and careless that in intoxicated state they could not understand that they were naked.
Keeping the lower part covered with clothes is the rule of human civilization and when men or women forget this rule, they are no better than animals. So Narad thought that the best punishment for them would be to turn them into inanimate beings or trees.
Trees are inanimate (immovable) by nature. Although trees are covered with Tamoguna, they cannot cause any harm. Sage Narad thought that it would be best for them that both the brothers should become trees by his grace,
But they must retain enough memory to know why they are being punished. After changing bodies the soul generally forgets its previous life but under special circumstances, with the grace of God, it can remember, as happened with Nalkuvar and Manigreev.
Therefore, Sage Narad thought that why not let these two gods live in the form of trees for one hundred years of the gods and after that, by the causeless grace of God, they will be able to see God directly. In this way, they will be able to get the life of gods and devotees of God again.
After this, Sage Narad returned to his abode Narayan Ashram and both the deities were transformed into trees which were named Yamalarjun.
Narad had a causeless kindness on both these deities due to which they could grow in Nanda's courtyard and could see Lord Krishna face to face.
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Even though child Krishna was tied to the wooden mortar, He kept moving towards the Yamala trees to fulfill the prophecy of His great devotee Narada.
Lord Krishna knew that Narada was His great devotee and the Yamala Arjun trees standing before Him were actually the sons of Kubera.
He thought, “Now I must fulfill the words of my great devotee Narada.” So he started going ahead through the path between these two trees. Although he himself went ahead through that path,
the wooden mortar got stuck between the two trees due to its large size. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shri Krishna kept pulling the rope tied to the mortar with force.
Krishna Stuti by Nalkuvar and Manigreeva
As soon as they pulled the rope with force, both the trees fell down on the earth with their trunks and branches. From these fallen trees, two great men appeared, glowing like fire.
All directions were illuminated by their presence. Both those pure men appeared before the child Krishna and bowing down to pay their respects, started praising Him in this way-
"O Krishna! You are the original Lord and the Lord of all Yogas. Learned brahmanas know that this cosmic manifestation is an extension of Your energies, which are sometimes manifest and sometimes unmanifest.
You are the original giver of life, body and senses to all beings. You are the eternal Supreme Lord, Lord Vishnu, who is omnipresent and the eternal regulator and the eternal time of everything.
You are the original source of this cosmic manifestation, which is functioning under the three modes of nature, namely, sattva, rajas and tamas.
You reside as the Supersoul in beings having various forms and know well what is happening within their bodies and minds. Therefore, you are the best director of all the activities of all living entities.
Although You live amidst objects which are under the influence of the modes of Maya, You are not affected by such contaminated qualities.
No one can understand Your transcendental qualities while being under the influence of material qualities, for They existed before the creation of the world.
Therefore, You are known as the Supreme Brahman, who is glorified by Your internal potencies.
O Lord Vasudeva! We offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. In this world You are known by Your various incarnations. Although You keep assuming various bodies, these bodies are not part of this material creation.
These bodies are filled with infinite opulence, strength, beauty, fame, wisdom and divine powers of renunciation. In this world there is a difference between the body and the embodied.
But You keep manifesting in Your spiritual body, so there is no such distinction for You. When You manifest, Your extraordinary actions indicate that You are Sri Bhagavan.
It is not possible for any living being in this world to perform such extraordinary acts. You, the Supreme Lord, are the cause of the birth, death and liberation of living beings and You are complete in all Your aspects. You can grant any boon to anyone.
O Lord! O cause of fortune and welfare! We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. You are omnipresent, the giver of peace and the supreme being of the Yadu dynasty.
O Lord! Our father Kuvera is Your servant. Similarly, the sage Narada is also Your servant and it is by His grace that we are able to see You in person.
Therefore we pray that we may remain engaged in Your divine loving devotion, reciting Your glories and hearing of Your transcendental activities.
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May our hands and other limbs be engaged in Your service, may our minds be focused on Your lotus feet, and may our heads always be bowed before Your omnipresent and colossal form."
What did Sri Krishna say after hearing the prayers of Nalakuvara and Manigreeva?
When Nalakuvara and Manigreeva finished their prayers, Balakrishna, who was tied to the ulukha by Yashoda, laughed and said, "I knew this before that my dear devotee Narada has shown causeless kindness to both of you to rescue you from the shameful state of pride caused by the matchless beauty and opulence of the Devkul.
He has saved you from going to hell. All these things are known to me before.You are fortunate that not only did he curse you but you both also saw him.
If a conditioned soul happens to see a saintly person who is always serious and kind to all, he is immediately liberated. It is like being in the full light of the sun - then there can be no obstruction of vision.
Therefore, O Nalkuvar and Manigreeva, now your life has been successful, because great love for me has arisen in your heart. This is your last birth in this world.
Now you can go to your father's abode in heaven and by continuing to do bhakti, you will be able to get liberation in this very life."
After this, both of them did several parikramas of the Lord and after bowing down again and again, they went from there. And the Lord remained there tied to the mortar in the same way.
Dear readers! This is how Lord Shri Krishna saved Nalkuvar and Manigreev. In this devotional story you will keep getting information related to such Krishna Leelas.
Take care of yourself, remember the Lord, keep smiling remembering his Leelas, with this we take leave. We will meet again with the next post, till then Jai-Jai Shri Radhe Shyam.
Thank you
