How ancient in Bharatavarsha? What is the greatness of Bharata?
The above question was addressed to Sankaracharya Niranjan Dev Tirtha of Govardhan Pith. Both the question and the response of the acharya were published in 1966 oct. issue of Sanskrit journal 'Sarada'. ss below.
When requested by Dhritarashtra to describe the glory of Bharatavarsha, Sanjay said, "O descendant of Bharata, I shall now speak to you about the country named after Bharata. It is the beloved land of Indra. ++
"O king, this land called after Bharata, is also the beloved land of Manu, the son of Vivasvat, of Pritha, of Vainya, of the illustrious Ikshvaku, of Yayati, of Ambarisha, of Mandhata, of Nahusha, of Muchukunda, ++
of Shibi, the son of Ushinaras of Rishabha, of Ila, of king Nriga, of Kushika, of the illustrious Gadhi, of Somaka, and of Dilipa and of many other kings." ++
Mahabharata 6.9.5-8
Sanjaya describes ancient Bharatavarsha in chapters 9 and 10 of Bhishmaparva of Mahabharata. archive.org/details/Mahabh…
An old thread on how this country got the name 'Bharata'.
@Drexler72_@sarvayajnadhipa Regarding marriage of widows, the general rule in dharmasastras is that a widow cannot marry (there are exceptions under certain conditions which will be specified succeeding tweets).
Rules prohibiting widow marriage in ss. (1/n)
@Drexler72_@sarvayajnadhipa A widow can remarry when the husband is absconding, dead, has renounced family life, has fallen (morally), or is eunuch. But, conditions apply, which are given in the next tweet. (2/n)
As per Gita 13.23, Isvara & Paramatma are synonyms.
उपद्रष्टाऽनुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः।
परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः॥
The Supreme Soul in this body is also called the spectator, the permitter, the supporter, the enjoyer, the great Lord & the Supreme Self.
Now coming to definitions, 1. परमात्मा is supreme Self and is defined as the synonym of Param Brahman 2. ईश्वर is Supreme God, supreme ruler of the Universe. 3. भगवान् is also a synonym of ईश्वर. Bhagavan is defined in Vishnu Purana as given below.
There is an important rule about Puranic episodes. Whenever we have a doubt regarding a particular episode, we need to consult the other Puranas. Every puranic episode is described in multiple puranas.
In this case, if we check Devi Bhagavata version of Vrina's story, we will find that both Vrinda and her husband Jalandhara aka Sankhachuda are Vishnu's parts. Jalandhara is श्रीकृष्णांशसमुद्भवः and Vrinda is तदंशा तत्सखी प्रिया as per Devi Bhagavata 9.18.23-28.
Since both Vrinda and Jalandhara are Vishnu's amsas, there is nothing wrong in Vishnu assuming the form of Jalandhara. Vishnu had to do it since there was no other way to put an end to sinful deeds of otherwise invinsible Jalandhara who did not spare even Ma Parvati ....