Clarfication: Primarily, I am a student of History, having completed my PG after my retirement from Banking Profession. I greatly appreciate our mythologies and scriptures. At the sametime, I feel that there is a need for Indians to become truth seekers instead of continuing as blind believers throughout their lives. I believe that Valmiki Ramayana has many components of history, which can be picked up after eliminating elements of fantasy such as Pushpaka Aircraft. In the same way, Vyasa Mahabharata and Vyasa Mahabhagavata seem to have many components of history, which can help us in making comparisons of one Century with another Century, and arrive at features of evolution of Indian Culture, such as places of pilgrimage. AyOdhya (also called sAkEt etc.) the birth place of Lord Shri Rama is one place which is hidden under the Earthy Mounds of Archaeological Sites. The AyOdhya may be the Phyzabad Ayodhya in U.P., or some other place in Bihar, Jharkhand.
VyAsa Mahabhagavata Sanskrit Language, 7th Canto (saptama skantha), Verses 30 to 33.
saramsi pushkarAdini
kshetrANy arhASritAny uta
kurukshetram gaya-Sirau
prayAgau pulahASramau
naimisham phAlgunam setuu
prabhAso atha kuSa-sthali
vArANasi madhu-puri
pampA bindu-saras tathA
nArAyaNASramo nandA
sitA-rAmASramAdayau
sarve kulAcalA rAjan
mahendra-malayAdayau
ete puNyatamA deSA
harer arcASritAS ca ye
etAn deSAn nisheveta
Sreyas-kAmo hy abhikshNaSau
dharmo hy atrehitau pumsam
sahasrAdhi-phalodayau
To save my labor, I am giving below the English Translation of the above verses, courtesy: Late Shrila Prabhupada of Harekrishna Movement
saramsi—lakes; pushkara-Adini—such as Pushkara; kshetrANi—sacred places (like Kurukshetra, GayAkshetra and JagannAtha Puri); arha—for worshipable, saintly persons; ASritAni—places of shelter; uta—celebrated; kurukshetram—a particular sacred place (dharma-kshetra); gaya-Sirau—the place known as GayA, where GayAsura took shelter of the lotus feet of Lord VishNu; prayAgau—Allahabad, at the confluence of the two sacred rivers Ganges and YamunA; pulaha-ASramau—the residence of Pulaha Muni; naimisham—the place known as NaimishAraNya (near Lucknow); phAlgunam—the place where the PhAlgu River flows; setuu—Setubandha, where Lord RAmacandra constructed a bridge between India and LaìkA; prabhAsau—PrabhAsakshetra; atha—as well as; kuSa-sthali—DvAravati, or DvArakA; vArANasi—Benares; madhu-puri—MathurA; pampA—a place where there is a lake called PampA; bindu-sarau—the place where Bindu-sarovara is situated; tathA—there; nArAyaNa-ASramau—known as BadarikASrama; nandA—the place where the NandA River flows; sitA-rAma—of Lord RAmacandra and mother SitA; ASrama-Adayau—places of shelter like CitrakUTa; sarve—all (such places); kulAcalAu—hilly tracts of land; rAjan—O King; mahendra—known as Mahendra; malaya-Adayau—and others, like MalayAcala; ete—all of them; puNya-tamAu—extremely sacred; deSAu—places; hareu—of GOD ; arca-ASritAu—places where the Deity of RAdhA-KrishNa is worshiped (such as big American cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and European cities like London and Paris, or wherever there are centers of KrishNa consciousness); ca—as well as; ye—those which; etAn deSAn—all these countries; nisheveta—should worship or visit; Sreyau-kAmau—one who desires auspiciousness; hi—indeed; abhikshNaSau—again and again; dharmau—religious activities; hi—from which; atra—in these places; ihitau—performed; pumsAm—of the persons; sahasra-adhi—more than a thousand times; phala-udayau—effective.
The sacred lakes like Pushkara and places where saintly persons live, like Kurukshetra, GayA, PrayAga, PulahASrama, NaimishAraNya, the banks of the PhAlgu River, Setubandha, PrabhAsa, DvArakA, VArANasi, MathurA, PampA, Bindu-sarovara, BadarikASrama [NArAyaNASrama], the places where the NandA River flows, the places where Lord RAmacandra and mother SitA took shelter, such as CitrakUTa, and also the hilly tracts of land known as Mahendra and Malaya—all of these are to be considered most pious and sacred. Similarly, places outside India where there are centers of the KrishNa consciousness movement and where RAdhA-KrishNa Deities are worshiped must all be visited and worshiped by those who want to be spiritually advanced. One who intends to advance in spiritual life may visit all these places and perform ritualistic ceremonies to get results a thousand times better than the results of the same activities performed in any other place.
In these verses and in verse twenty-nine, stress is given to one point: harer arcASritAS ca ye or harer arcA. In other words, any place where the Deity of GOD is worshiped by devotees is most significant. The KrishNa consciousness movement is giving the population of the entire world a chance to take advantage of KrishNa consciousness through the ISKCON centers, where one may perform Deity worship and chant the Hare KrishNa mahA-mantra and in this way obtain results with effectiveness increased a thousand times. This constitutes the best welfare activity for human society. This was Sri Caitanya MahAprabhu's mission as it was predicted by Him in the Caitanya-bhAgavata (Antya 4.126):
prithivite Ache yata nagarAdi-grAma
sarvatra pracAra haibe mora nAma
Sri Caitanya MahAprabhu wanted the Hare KrishNa movement, with installed Deities, to spread to every village and town in the world, so that everyone in the world might take advantage of this movement and become all-auspicious in spiritual life. Without spiritual life, nothing is auspicious. MoghASA mogha-karmANo mogha gnAnA vicetasau (Bg. 9.12). No one can become successful in fruitive activities or speculative knowledge without being KrishNa conscious. As recommended in the SAstras, everyone should be very eagerly interested in taking part in the KrishNa consciousness movement and understanding the value of spiritual life.
I am not a supporter or hater of Harekrishna Movement.
ybrao-a-donkey's personal view, not intended to be imposed on others
In the above list of places of pilgrimages, we do not find the name of Ayodhya or the Birth place of Shri Rama. There is a reference to Sita Rama Ashrama (Hermitage of Sita, Rama and Lakshmana during their Forest Exile). Shrila Prabhudasa has also mentioned above ChitrakooTa which is on the boundary of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. But these three verses, why they have ignored Ayodhya?
At the time of Evolution of Vyasa Mahabhagavata as a scripture i.e. probably the Gupta Period i.e.the 3rd & 4th Centuries A.D., which is also considered as a Golden Age for India. Were Chandra Gupta-I, Samudra Gupta, Chandra Gupta-2 aware of the Existence of Ayodhya as the Birth place of Shrirama and as a place of pilgrimage?
Only 10% completed. Shall come back, continue adding, deleting, modifying.
భారత్ లో లౌకికవాదానికి చావుదెబ్బ గాంధీ గారి కాలంలో నే తగిలింది. ఆయన స్వాతంత్ర్యోద్యమానికి ముస్లిం పెద్దల మద్దతు కూడగట్టుకోటానికి ఖిలాఫత్ ఉద్యమాన్ని బలపరచమని ప్రజలను కోరారు. ఖలీఫా అనే ఆయన టర్కీ దేశానికి అనువంశిక సుల్తాను లేక చక్రవర్తి. మొదటి ప్రపంచ యుధ్ధానంతరం, బ్రిటీష్ వారు ఖలీఫాగారి అధికారానికి ఎసరు పెట్టారు. దానికి వ్యతరేకంగా ఇస్లామిక్ ప్రపంచంలో ఖిలాఫత్ ఉద్యమం రేగింది. భారతీయులలో తురుష్కముస్లిములకు ఖలీఫా యందు భక్తి ఉండటాన వారు కూడ ఖిలాఫత్ ఉద్యమంలో చేరారు. గాంధీగారు అనుకున్నదేమిటంటే ఖిలాఫత్ కు భారతీయులు మద్దతిస్తే భారతీయ ముస్లింలు భారత స్వాతంత్ర్యోద్యమంలో ఉత్సాహంగా పాల్గొంటారని. అలా జరిగిందా, లేదా, అనటానికి చరిత్రలో సరియైన లెక్కలులేవు.
కెజ్రీవాల్ గారు వారణాసిలో నామినేషన్ వేయటానికి అడుగుబెట్టగానే చేసిందేమిటి? బెనారస్ శహర్ ఈ కాజీ (బెనారస్ పట్టణానికి ముస్లిం మత న్యాయమూర్తి వంటివాడు) ఘులాం నశీర్ గారిని కలిసి ఆయన మద్దతును అడుక్కున్నారు. నసీర్ గారు కేజ్రీవాల్ గారి విజయానికి ప్రార్ధనలు చేస్తానని వాగ్దానం చేశారుట.
