ರಾಮ ವಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಮರೆಯಿಂದ ಕೊಂದಿದ್ದು ಸರಿ?

ಯಾರೇ ತನ್ನೆದುರಿಗೆ ಯುದ್ಧಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದರೂ ಅವರ ಅರ್ಧ ಶಕ್ತಿ ತನಗೆ ಬರಬೇಕು ಎನ್ನುವ ವರವನ್ನು ವಾಲಿ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದು ನಮಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತೇ ಇದೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಅವನು ಸುಗ್ರೀವನ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡರೂ ಸುಗ್ರೀವ ಅಸಹಾಯಕನಾಗಿ ರಾಮನ ಸಹಾಯ ಬೇಡಿದ. ರಾಮ ಒಪ್ಪಿ, ನೀವಿಬ್ಬರೂ ಹೊಡೆದಾಡುವಾಗ ನಾನು ಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ವಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಕೊಲ್ಲುತ್ತೇನೆ ಎಂದ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಮಾಡಿದ ಕೂಡ.
ರಾಮ ಬಾಣವೇನೋ ಬಿಟ್ಟ. ವಾಲಿಗೆ ಪೆಟ್ಟಾಗಿ ಮರಣಶಯ್ಯೆಗೆ ಹೋದ. ರಾಮನನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ವಾಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದ. "ನಾವು ಮೃಗಗಳು. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹಾಗೆ ಮನುಷ್ಯರಲ್ಲ. ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹಾಗೆ ಒಂದು ಹೆಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಗಂಡು ಅನ್ನುವ ನಿಯಮ ಇಲ್ಲ." ಪಶ್ಚಾತ್ತಾಪಗೊಂಡ ರಾಮ "ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ನಂಗೆ ಮುಂದಿನ ಜನ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಸಾವು ಬರಲಿ" ಅಂದ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾವತಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ಅರಳಿ ಮರದ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಕುಳಿತಾಗ ಅವನ ಕಾಲನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ, ಜಿಂಕೆ ಎಂದು ಪರಿಭವಿಸಿ, ಬೇಡನೊಬ್ಬ ಕೃಷ್ಣನಿಗೆ ಬಾಣಬಿಟ್ಟು, ಕೃಷ್ಣಾವತಾರ ಕೊನೆಗೊಳಿಸಿದ ಎಂದು ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳು ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.
ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಉದ್ಭವ ಆಯ್ತು ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ. ವಾಲಿ, ತಾನೇ ಹೇಳಿದ ತಾವು ಮೃಗಗಳು ನಾವು ಯಾರ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯನ್ನಾದರೂ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದು ಎಂದು. ಹಾಗಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ, ಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಒಂದು ಮೃಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬಾಣ ಹೊಡೆದದ್ದು ತಪ್ಪಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ. ಅಥವಾ ಬೇಟೆಯ ನಿಯಮದ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ತಿನ್ನುವುದಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಮರೆಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾಣಿ ಹತ್ಯೆ ಮಾಡಬಹುದೇ? ಆಮೇಲೇ, ಸರಿಯೇ ತಪ್ಪೇ, ವಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಕೊಲ್ಲಬೇಕಾದರೆ, ಅವನಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗದಂತೆಯೇ ಕೊಲ್ಲಬೇಕಿತ್ತಲ್ಲ (ಅವನ ವರದ ದೆಸೆಯಿಂದ).

ಪಾಪ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾವತಾರದ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಅನ್ನಿಸ್ತು ನಂಗೆ!

Shivagange - A Holy Rocky Hillock

"Lets go to Nandi Hills", I said, "But we have to be there by 6 am!".

We were planning for the next day, i.e., 15th Aug (2008). But in the evening, it rained so heavily that made us to drop the idea of being there on the summit by 6 am. Not just that, we even dropped Nandi Hills picnic, which never came true till today!We inquired some friends and decided on Shivagange, a rocky hillock and a fantastic trekking place with temples at the summit. The place is around 60 km from Bangalore towards Tumkur. A deviation has to be taken from NH 4 at Dabas pet and travel for 8 km to reach at the base, though the hillock is visible from Highway.


Me, Jagga and Acharya started by 9 am and picking up Manu, Prasanna and Deva on the way, all wearing jackets to protect from rain, set towards it and reached by around 11. Thanks to Varuna, the rain God. Nevertheless the weather was so nice and with clouds covering entire sky, Sun was not visible, A happy sign for trekkers.


We started climbing the hillock and we struggled a lot to keep the biscuits and chips with ourselves when our so called ancestors were trying desperately to drag them away. I am talking about monkeys, which would be there in large number at Shivagange. At once it jumped at me and even opened the zip of my bag to peek inside! So daring. Its a challenge how much you can keep before reaching the summit.


Half way, there is a place called "Olakallu Teertha", where, inside a cave, a small well with a diameter of 3/4th a foot is there. There is water in it but one has to shove his hand till the shoulder to reach the water. If he touches it, it is believed he has good luck, otherwise considered bad luck.


We took around 2 and half hours to reach the summit, eating cucumber, watermelon and drinking buttermilk on the way, including testing our luck by reaching water inside the well. The scenery is so fantastic and fabulous that I can never forget, at least in the near future. There is a suicide point also and a kannada novel refers it to as "Shantala's suicide point". I am not sure but I guess a character named Shantala committed suicide by jumping down in the novel at that place.


After photo sessions, we climbed down, which took an hour and a half approximately. But Varuna thought he should not keep quiet and heavy rain started pouring when we just started our ride and not even reached Dabas Pet. Finally, when it sl0wed down we resumed towards Bangalore and reached not before having snacks at Kamat hotel, Dabas Pet.

For more photos please follow this link http://picasaweb.google.com/gowthuhk/ShivagangeTrip#

ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನಿಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ

ಯಮಧರ್ಮನ ವರಪ್ರಸಾದದಿಂದ ಜನಿಸಿದ ಯುಧಿಷ್ಠಿರ ತನ್ನ ಧರ್ಮ ಪಾಲನೆಯಿಂದ ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನೆಂದೇ ಕರೆಸಿಕೊಂಡದ್ದು ನಮಗೆಲ್ಲ ತಿಳಿದ ವಿಷಯ. ಆದರೂ ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥಾನ ಮೃತಹೊಂದಿದ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ದಿನ ನರಕವನ್ನು ನೋಡುವ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ ವಿದಿಸಲಾಯಿತು ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆ ಹೆಸರಿನ ಆನೆ ಒಂದು ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ಸತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ, ಅದನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದ ರೀತಿ ದ್ರೋಣಾಚಾರ್ಯರ ಮಗ ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥಾನನ ಮರಣದ ವಾರ್ತೆಯಂತಿತ್ತು. ಹೀಗಿದ್ದಾಗ ನನಗೊಂದು ಸಂದೇಹ. ಪಾಂಡವರ ಕೌರವರ ಜೋಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ದ್ರೌಪದಿಯನ್ನೇ ಜೂಜಿಗಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಯಾಕೆ ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನಿಗೆ ಏನೂ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಯ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪ ಆಗಿಲ್ಲ?

/* ಈ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಲು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಆಹ್ವಾನವಿದೆ. */

Goa - A Tiny Emerald

One fine day, 2008 March last week, we (Me, Jagga and Manu) thought we could go for a trip. We also thought we should decide the date, place and invite others instead of asking everybody for probable dates, otherwise the trip itself wouldn't have happened. We called our friends immediately we booked 4 tickets in KSRTC to Karwar (as we didn't get train tickets) for April 4th evening when only we 3 were confirmed, rest denying. Finally Deva joined us as 4th member, when none of us were aware of boarding, lodging, travelling etc., in Goa. We just googled it and found out some places and left.

It was 9 am when we got down in Karwar and had breakfast. Not knowing the train timings, we caught a KTC (Goa state transport) bus and reached Margao by around 12 noon, two of us looking at Western ghats, rest continuing sleep...

When we checked into a hotel in Margao, everybody was eager to have shower - a desperate needy at the hour. After having lunch in a Kamat hotel nearby, we set for Colva beach dressed in shorts, convenient to play in sea-waters. We played in sea, watched sunset and returned to our hotel. We used only public transport on our first day.

One unusual thing about Margao (or rather different than what we thought), is town's time to embrace the sleep. We started for dinner at around 9 pm and we walked around 3-4 km till the town's center and still we didn't get even a single hotel opened that time! Hotels, shops, market, - everything was closed for the day. We had a tough time finding to have food and finally we settled for paav bhaji, he too was packing up, which we found luckily on a roadside.

Next day (6th) we went to Anjuna beach, where Scarlett Keeling's body found just one month prior, and we got into a cottage. We changed bus once at Panaji and then at Mapusa on our way to Anjuna village. It is quite a different beach, full of dark brown rocks near shore, not usual sandy. Its also a famous shooting spot.


After playing for a while, We left the shore and hired two bikes. Now this is something very common in Goa - rented bikes. We asked a guy for two bikes, which he gave willingly, taking Rs 250 per day per bike, and not even bothered to ask whether we knew the driving or not, let alone DLs! When we were about to start, he told about accelerator and brake!


We then visited Bhaga and Calangute beaches. Those two are beautiful beaches, where we enjoyed most. We played water sports, watched sunset for second successive day, and did shopping. There is a very good veg restaurant in Calangute, (name I don't remember now, must be some 'Sagar') where we had both lunch and dinner.


Next day early morning, we explored Anjuna Beach a little more before heading to to Panaji. As soon as we got down, probably guessed by our confusing looks, somebody came and was leading us to a hotel, the next moment! We checked into a hotel, Sona, near Panjim bus stand. After enquiring about cruise timings, we booked for that day evening's, since it was already time for morning's.

We then booked a cab cum guide to show us temples and churches. First we visited St. Francis Xavier's Church, whose speciality lies in the preservation of St.'s body from around 450 years. Near to that, we can find one more famous monument Se Cathedral, which truly depicts the royalty of Goa during the Portuguese rule. The art museum there, is good to visit. I am not going to write the historical significance of these architectures that you can get, very well detailed, if you google it.


Churches enough, next thing was to visit some of the famous temples. We visited 3 famous temples - Shri Mangesh temple, Goa's one of the most prominent temples, located at Mangeshi village, followed by Mahalasa temple, another name of Vishnu's Mohini incarnation, located at Madroli village, and Shantadurga temple, which has an impressive idol of Durga, who is said to have mediated between Vishnu and Shiva and stopped their war. Goa's temples are really good and one can find the architectural similarity between them.


After that we went to Dona Paula and Miramar beaches, visiting 'big foot', a miniature setup to recreate the rural life of Goa's olden days. Big foot got its name because of big footprint that was discovered on a rock and the footprint is believed to bring good luck for those who stood upon it. The laterite sculpture of Saint Mirabai in Ancestral Goa has been cited in the Limca Book of Records as the Longest Laterite Sculpture in India.

Hmmm, it was time to say good bye to Deal(Deva, our friend), who had to leave us for his home. We then went on to ride cruise. In cruise they take us on the water for about an hour's ride. There will be dance and / or similar programmes on it.


Next morning, we woke up early and before 6 am, we were at Panaji bus stand to catch the bus to Margao, from where we had to catch Konkan train (Vokha - Ernakulam Express) at 8 or so. That journey from Margao to Karwar in train was the best train journey I ever had! Though we got the seats in II class, we soon left the seat and stood in the door for our entire journey till Karwar. It averages about 120 kmph. There are so many small tunnels and 2-3 lengthier ones as well. (2-3 km long). Even inside the tunnels, dark and lit by small bulbs, the train didn't reduce the speed. The sound was horrible, when it goes inside. And we were afraid at times, seeing rocks and stones very much near to train! Wonderful journey nonetheless. It reached Karwar in 45 mins (rail distance - around 70 km or so)


Finally we got down in Karwar and caught a bus to Talavata, (my native place) via Gerusoppa ghat on 8th of April.

PS : For more pictures, you can refer to my picasa album http://picasaweb.google.com/gowthuhk/GoaTrip#.