Puranjana and Avijnata are two swans and inseparable friends. They live in the Manasarovar for thousands of years while the Pralaya lasts. Avijnata comes to the Manasarovar at the oddest of times, flies off to unknown places suddenly and never discusses what he does during his mysterious journeys with Puranjana. But Puranjana trusts him because Avijnata always comes to him instantly whenever he thinks of him.
When creation begins, Puranjana yearns to taste the pleasures of the earth. Avijnata warns him, “O Puranjana, you are most certainly not a king. It is your imagination that makes you think that way. You will experience untold suffering and understand the futility of your earthly life the hard way. Please don’t embark on such a dangerous journey.” But Puranjana ignores Avijnata’s warning and flies off into the world below to find a perfect city to rule over.
Bhogavati
Puranjana searches endlessly for his dream city. And he feels overjoyed when he discovers Bhogavati, a wondrous city with nine gates, gem-studded mansions, lovely gardens, heavenly trees, chirpy birds, lively bazaars and gambling dens too. As Puranjana strolls through the city an intriguing sight greets him.
He sees a five-headed serpent guarding a young seductive woman and ten servants fulfilling all her whims and fancies. The woman smiles coyly when she sees Puranjana and says, “O handsome Kshatriya, I can read all the questions that are flitting through your mind. But I have no answers for any of them. I don’t know who I am or who created me. All I know is I have always lived in Bhogavati. My friends here indulge all my desires and this faithful naga, Prajagara, protects me from harm.
Without waiting for Puranjana’s response the woman says, “Marry me O handsome warrior. Let’s not concern ourselves about our past or future or worry about things like death or Moksha. Let’s seize each moment as it comes and enjoy all the heavenly pleasures that Bhogavati offers us. And I promise to satiate every desire of yours if you marry me.”
Puranjana marries Puranjani
Puranjana finds it difficult to resist the young woman’s charms. He agrees to marry her, names her Puranjani and in no time succumbs to the ardour of her passion. They spend many blissful days together and Puranjana feels he is the luckiest man on earth.
Time flies. After a few years, Puranjana realizes that his wife was a moody woman. Often she would sing tuneless songs, laugh happily for no reason at all and love him passionately. But sometimes out of the blue Puranjani would sob her heart out, chatter endlessly about meaningless things or sit in gloomy silence for hours. But by now Puranjana loves his wife so much that he imitates her every mood eagerly and does everything to please Puranjani.
Over time Puranjana sires several sons and grandchildren and becomes completely embroiled in his family matters. He has no time to spare for spiritual pursuits and foolishly assumes his life will be the same forever.
Chandavega and Prajagara
Now it so happens that Chandavega, a Gandharva wants to attack Bhogavati. But he knows he can conquer Bhogavati only if he defeats Prajagara the Naga. So Chandavega keeps attacking Bhogavati. And Prajagara keeps warding him off. But soon Prajagara tires of braving Chandvega’s constant attacks singlehandedly.
Bhaya and Durbhaga
In a different realm, Bhaya rules over his kingdom with his wife Durbhaga. They decide to conquer the earth using fear and death as their tools. So they too set out to the earth, terrorize the mortals with fear, inflict horrible diseases on their bodies, hearts and minds and rub their hands in glee when they die slow agonizing deaths. They then decide to attack Bhogavati.
Chandavega, Bhaya and Durbhaga
Prajagara knows he cannot fight against three deadly enemies. So he diverts his energies to protecting his king Puranajana alone. When Puranjana witnesses the sorry plight of his people he comes to his senses. But it is too late to repair the damage. He seeks comfort in the arms of his wife and family. But he is shocked to see that even his wife, sons, and grandsons hate him now.
After ruining Bhogavati, Chandvega, Bhaya and Durbhaga close in on Puranjana. Prajagara tries to protect Puranjana. But Bhaya seizes both Puranjana and Prajagara and pushes them into Naraka. They endure endless agonies there for all the carnal sins they committed during their lifetime.
Vaidarbhi
In his next life, Puranjana is reborn as King RajaSimha’s daughter, Vaidarbhi who rules over Vidharbha. She marries a devout man, Malayadhvaja and gives birth to a blue-eyed daughter and seven sons. After Malayadhvaja and Vaidarbhi get their blue-eyed daughter married to rishi Agastya, they divide their kingdom amongst their seven sons and go to the forest in pursuit of Moksha.
One day Vaidarbhi is shocked when Malayadhvaja sheds his body. She sobs uncontrollably and prepares for his cremation. Just as she is about to light the funeral pyre a Brahman materializes out of thin air.
The Brahman says, “Why do you mourn so much for this man O mortal woman? Haven’t you made any sense out of your experiences even after suffering so much? Don’t you know who you are still? Don’t you recognize me? I am your old friend Avijnata.
Wake up to the ultimate reality my friend. For I, Avijnata am the ParamAtma and you, Puranjana are the JivAtma. And we are inseparable.
The JivAtma is restless by nature, always eager to experience Samsara – the world of senses, objects, pleasure and pain. So it takes on a body with nine orifices (The nine gates of Bhogavati).
Puranjani, your wife is the Buddhi. The JivAtma can enjoy the world of pleasures only because Buddhi. The five Gyanendriyas and five Karmendriyas are Buddhi’s slaves. And Prajagra the serpent guardian is Prana – the life breath.
The Jivatma enjoys the pleasures of Samsara through the nine gates of perception. It becomes Buddhi’s slave, imitates all her moods and does everything to please her. So soon the Jivatma forget its true nature too. Chandavega’s constant attacks symbolise Time. Bhaya is fear and Durbhaga is fate.
Understand this properly. The strong bond between the Jivatma and Samsara can be severed easily with Bhakti. And Bhakti can be nurtured by listening to the legends of the Lord for He dwells in the scriptures.
O Vaidarbhi your blue-eyed daughter, Asha symbolises the purest form of desire. All she wants is to listen to the legends of the blue Lord. That is why her eyes are the colour of the Lord’s skin. Your 7 sons symbolise Shravan, Keertan, Padasevan, Archana, Vandana and Dasya, the seven ways of breaking through Karmic bondage which holds the Jivatma captive.
Follow the seven paths to salvation, seek the company of holy men and listen to what they have to tell you. This will help the JivAtma transcend everything and merge with the ParamAtma. Now that you have experienced untold pain and suffering remember that the only goal a man should strive for is the Lord himself.
Vaidarbhi laughs with relief when she breaks free of her illusions. She recognizes her true nature, regains her original form as the Jivatma and reunites with her soul mate the ParamAtma. Both become swans again and swim blissfully in the lake of eternity.
Our scriptures have several engrossing stories like these that convey profound insights to us. And they do inspire us to look beyond our earthly materialistic lives, don’t they?
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