Story of Syamantaka Mani Told by Sri Kanchi Mahaswami

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Story of ‘Syamantaka Mani’ told by Sri Kanchi Mahaswami

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Volume : 2

Published: June 2013

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Table of Contents

Foreword ............................................................................................ 3

Story of Syamantaka Mani .................................................................. 5

Conclusion ........................................................................................ 30


Shri Kanchi Mahaswami Thiruvadigal Saranam

Foreword

Hari Om!

We are pleased to bring you our Second E-book from the Kanchi Paramacharya Community on

Facebook (www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya).

This group is dedicated to spread the life and teachings of His Holiness Sri Kanchi Paramacharya, more

affectionately known to His devotees as Sri Maha Periyava. The Community is also on Google+

(https://plus.google.com/u/1/116160513796892415779/posts). Just look for Kanchi Mahaswami on

Google+ and add us to your Circles, to receive the Gems of Paramacharya in your mail box every

morning.

The response to our First publication released on Sri Maha Periyava’s 120th Jayanthi last month has

been overwhelming, and it is again HIS blessings only that we are able to release our Second edition

also on this auspicious day of Anusham.

All of us are aware that the Mahaswami’s discourses captured in the seven volumes of Deivathin Kural/ Voice of God is also known as the common man’s Veda. Our Maha Periyava has given us a wealth of

information through these books, and every single page is a pokisham (treasure) for us to cherish and

relish.

The Paramacharya has narrated several stories from ancient times in Deivathin Kural/ Voice of God,

and in this E-Book, we bring you the Story of Syamantaka Mani, narrated in His own sweet, simple and

lucid style.

In this elaborate story, Sri Maha Periyava shows us a remedy for getting rid of misunderstandings/

negative publicity and the curse of seeing the fourth crescent of the moon. We also learn about a sloka

to be chanted then.

There is another important aspect which you will find appealing as you read through this story. Sri

Mahaswami shows us the ways of the world, and several morals to be learnt in life. Those sections are

highlighted in the pages that follow, for your immediate reference.


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We are sure this E-book will be a feast to your eyes and we request you to forward this to all your

friends, relatives and other devotees of the Mahaswami.

Although this e-book is for restricted circulation among like-minded members of the society, it is a free

publication which can be downloaded from our Facebook Page.

We humbly submit our Second E-book at the Lotus Feet of Sri Maha Periyava, seeking His blessings and

guidance to continue to spread His Light far and wide.

Any feedback may be sent to us at [email protected]

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Jaya Jaya Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara!

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Story of Syamantaka Mani Source: Deivathin Kural / Voice of God: Volume 4

You may have heard of the story of Symantaka MaNi Upaakhyaanam in

Bhagawatam. ‘Aakhyaanam’ means a story. ‘Upaakhyaanam’ means a side story or an addenda. When the major epic is narrated by the PuraNa or

Itihaasa, upaakhyaanam is a story that is branched out of the main. In

some of these upaakhyaanam, like the Nalopaakhyaanam, there may not

be any of the characters of the main story. The purpose may be to highlight

a concept or a principle.

Some of them may be forming an inalienable part of the main story that would still stand apart!

Syamantaka MaNi Upaakhyaanam is thus a part and parcel of Bhagawata. The main story revolves

around the divine precious stone known as Symantaka MaNi, it's ownership, the scam about the stone

involving Sri KrishNa and the tribulations he underwent in retrieving his name and reputation, is what

the story is all about. This story, which is an off-shoot in Bhagawatham, is also narrated in Vishnu

PuraaNaa and Skaandam with some variations. The worship of PiLLaiyar by KrishNa is as told to Sanat

Kumara by Nandikeswara in Skaandam, is what I am going to talk about. While doing so, I will touch

upon the various versions also and make 'an avail’!

Once when after marrying RukmiNi, Bhagwan Sri KrishNa was living in Dwaraka, there were two

brothers of the Yadava community, by name Satrajit and Prasena. The elder Satrajit had a lot of

devotion to the Sun that is Surya Bhagawan. Though nowadays, some people do Surya Namaskara and

chant the Aditya Hrudayam sloka and stop with that. The daily ritual of doing 'Trikala' Sandya

Vandanam and the Gayatri Mantra Japam is all directed towards the Sun only. However, there was a

past when 'Sun Worship' per say, was a separate religion known as 'Souram'!

In our religion there are six divisions with six different deities called, the Shanmadham. PiLLaiyar,

SubrahmaNya, AmbaaL, Easwara and Mahavishnu, make up the five who are now rather popularly

worshipped. In addition, the sixth sub-division of our religion was the Souram, in which Surya or the

Sun was worshipped as the primordial God Incarnate! The 'Konark' temple is for Surya Bhagawan.

'Arka' is one of the names of the Sun God. So, 'koNa + arka = koNark' is, the Sun's portion!

That word 'Arka' has triggered another line of thought, in connection with PiLLaiyar. This is the

advantage of explaining things to others word by word! Whether it is of any usefulness or of interest to

the audience or not, the speaker benefits in terms of, ever new connections between events, concepts

and anecdotes that occur to him suddenly! Having already shared with you all, as to how PiLLaiyar is

connected with AmbaaL, Easwara, Maha Vishnu and SubrahmaNya, the other four deities of the

Shanmadham, my mind was wondering as to how to connect PiLLaiyar with Surya the Sun!


Inadvertently, as the talk went on about Konark and Arka as one of the names of Sun, this word 'Arka'

suddenly gave me the connection between PiLLaiyar and Surya the Sun! I thank God for this revelation!

Arka the name of Sun is also closely related to worship of PiLLaiyar. To do 'archanai' (offering a flower

or leaf each at the lotus feet of the Lord, while chanting Gods name), with the 'ashtotra' (108 Names)

or 'sahasra naama' (1008 Names) for PiLLaiyar, the most suitable flower is 'erukkam poo', an evolute

out of 'Arka'! That we know is a name for Sun God. Then, in Suryanar Koil (Sun Temple) near

KumbakoNam, the 'Sthala Vruksham' is Erukkan! Other than those flowers that bloom at night, out of

the other flowers that open out when the sun's rays fall on them, it is the Erukkan that has the

presence of Sun so apparently that, for every flower that you offer, you can imagine yourself making a

personal submission to God! Now I hope you are clear in your minds as to how, amongst the

Shanmadham, the other five that is, AmbaaL, Easwara, Mahavishnu, SubrahmaNya and Surya, agree

and consent to the premier place of merit to PiLLaiyar! Let it be so! We were talking about Syamantaka

MaNi.

Satrajit was highly devoted to Surya the Sun. On the sea shore, he did a tapasya of intense austerities

and self abnegation. Surya the Sun God was pleased to give him 'darshan' and asked him to express his

wish. He was wearing an effulgent and brilliant gem called the 'Syamantakam' on his chest. Satrajit

knew about that stone, that it is capable of enriching him immensely, not only by its own value but by

ennobling in terms of prestige and status! So he promptly asked the Sun to grant him the Syamantaka

gem! These Gods have the habit of giving whatever asked for, without a second thought! Surya

Bhagawan did exactly that.

He told him, "This stone is like another form of mine. Wherever it is present, there will be no disease or

sorrow. In the house where it is present there will be eight 'bhaaram' (we do not know how much is

the weight of that 'bhaaram'), of gold. But there is one condition. The one wearing it should be very

careful about cleanliness, physical and otherwise. The slightest deviation towards turpitude can cause

much harm". With those words, the Sun gave him the Syamantaka MaNi and vanished from the scene!

Satrajit returned to Dwaraka wearing that stone. It was so powerful that no one could see the wearer

of the stone, but only a brilliant white light! Everyone thought that probably Surya Bhagawan has

arrived in Dwaraka to meet Sri KrishNa Bhagawan! Only in very close quarters, people could recognize

Satrajit and get to know as to how he could come to own that gem as a 'prasadam' from the Sun God!

KrishNa as one capable of appreciating the aesthetic beauty of the gem praised it much. Satrajit got the

impression that Sri KrishNa wanted to own that gem!

However much KrishNa may be prone to do mischief in fun, like stealing the butter and the affection of

the Gopika girls, leading the life of a householder with 16 thousand wives and such things, he was a

totally detatched man of no flimsy needs or desires. As the knower of the Self, he was a Parama

Gnaani. After he destroyed Kamsa, he had every right to assume the emperorship himself!


All the citizens so much in love with him would have whole

heartedly approved of such an action! He was however not

interested in becoming the king.

He installed Kamsa's father Ugrasena as the King. Ugrasena was

his maternal grandfather. Not a direct one but, KrishNa's mother's

father's younger brother and a very old man at that! After the

death of Kamsa, KrishNa moved away to Dwaraka and established

a small kingdom there. But, even here, he did not declare himself

to be an independent soverign ruler but, placed his elder

Balarama to be the King and remained sub-servient to him!

Though he is considered as a 'PoorNa Avatara' and not a part

incarnation of the ultimate reality, he displayed extreme humility

and dispassion.

Bhagawatam talks about the time when Mahalakshmi came into being with the churning of the ocean

of milk (ksheera saagara). Then all the Deva-s were avidly looking forward to being favoured by

Mahalakshmi with a smile or a glance. Vishnu was just by himself with total dispassion standing on the

sidelines! Mahalakshmi was attracted by this very apparent unconcern of Vishnu. She thought that to

win his heart would be worth the while and so, garlanded him. As he was very kind hearted without

passion, he immediately embraced her with all love!

I was talking about how KrishNa was devoid of passions and desires. But all the wealth came to him

unasked for! Maha Vishnu's Conch (Sangu), Chakra, Garuda and the Koustuba Mala; all came to him

unasked for. "kasturi tilakam lalaata palake vakshastale koustubam" we sing. They all just came to him.

How can such a man be craving for this 'Syamantaka MaNi'? He is said to have made a statement that,

'if he so desires, Satrajit may give that Syamantaka MaNi'. Even this he could have only meant that

'Satrajit may give it to Ugrasena Maharaj' and not to himself.

Even here it is not out of any currying of favour with the king, but with the intention that, instead of

the individual Satrajit, if it accrues to the king, all the benefits would accrue to the country that he

rules! With that intention of the nation’s well-being, KrishNa indirectly hinted. As per Artha Saastra, if

an individual were to come to own possessions richer and wealthier than the king, it could give him a

false notion of being superior to the king and that could pave the way for subversive tendencies!

Hence such wealth should accrue automatically to the crown. That is the reason why, even the modern

day acts of law have made such newly discovered treasures, national properties! As the saying goes,

"raja ratna haari", the higher the value of items, they will naturally accrue to the King. With that idea

Sri KrishNa made a suggestive indication.


Satrajit's reaction was in a different direction. His analysis of the situation was as follows. "What is Raja

and what is anybody else? After all the king is also KrishNa's making only! After all, that king is his

maternal grandfather! In the name of the King, this KrishNa is trying to take away the Syamanthaka

MaNi!" Not only did he suspect KrishNa of malicious intentions but was also afraid of him.

How attachment and desire for wealth can play tricks with your own mind and imagination is the

moral of the story of the Syamantaka MaNi Upaakhyaanam!

His analysis was like this. 'This KrishNa has killed great wrestlers such as ChaNoora and Mushtka, even

in his teens. He made a mince meat of Kamsa. Jarasandha who was so powerful, was beaten and

chased around 17 times by this KrishNa. Then, he is also capable of much magic and tricks! How to

avoid antagonizing him and if he does become an enemy, how to tackle him?' He did not have the

heart to give away the Syamantaka MaNi, while at the same time he was in a quandary as to how to

retain that precious stone! This story really teaches us as to how inert material can torture us, even

after it's becoming our property!

As a stop gap arrangement, he gave it to his younger brother Prasenan temporarily! The younger

brother was more intelligent and stronger too. The younger brother happily wore that Syamantaka

MaNi and set out on a hunting trip to the forests. (As per Skaandam, Prasenan is supposed to have

gone in the company of KrishNa. As per Vishnu PuraNam and Bhagawatam, Prasenan went on the

hunting trip on his own!)

I hope you remember that the one wearing the Syamantaka MaNi, is required to maintain high

standard of physical and moral cleanliness! But Prasenan had to attend to nature's call and there was

no water available! He could not clean himself properly. He was attacked by a lion, killed and eaten up!

Night enveloped the forest. But the lion catching hold of the Syamantaka MaNi by its mouth was going

unaware of the brilliant emanation of light from its mouth, making the night as bright as the day!

In that forest, in a mountainous cave, there lived Jambavan. That leader of bears was the same, who

had assisted the monkey army of Sri Rama, eons before! Finally Sri Rama, when he gave up his mortal

coil and ascended to the Vaikunta, had virtually taken all the people with him. But he left Anjaneya and

Jambavan. They both had the worth to prove the point that, as long as you are chanting and thinking of

Rama Nama, for him this world of misery and sorrow itself will be heavens! To show the world this

truth, they remained behind in the earth. VibhishaNa in Lanka too continued as a 'Chiranjeevi', that is

an immortal being!

We think of the human being as highly evolved towards perfection. But after Rama Avatara, it was a

Monkey, a Bear and a Rakshasa; who were left behind as the eternal examples of the highest levels of

devotion! "aswattaama balir vyaasa krupa parasurama hanumanscha vibhishana: iti saptaite

chiranjeevina: " says the sloka, describing the seven everlasting souls!


Though Jambavan's name is not there, he is worth being included in

this list! It is part of folk lore to call any expert in any field, who has

seen it all, as a 'Jambavan'! Is it not so? To name a few more who

are not included, but should be included in this list, I should point

out, Agasthya and the forever sixteen years old Markandeya!

Rama's time was during Treta Yuga. This event under consideration,

occurred at the end of Dwapara Yuga. (More than 300 thousand

years must have passed between the two, during which Jambawan

must have been alive!)

Jambawan saw the lion with the brilliant Syamantaka MaNi in its

mouth. At that time he had a baby boy by the name Sukumara. Do

not ask me as to how he could live for more than three Lac years

and then have a baby boy! He wanted the brilliant gem for his son,

as a play thing! As a mighty warrior, he fought with the lion and

killed him. Picked up the gem and made it hang above the baby's cot with some toys. (That reminds me

as to how Vaali made RavaNa hang as a ten headed insect, over his baby's cot!) The gem despite its

brilliance was like a torch light for modern day children!

Here is the deviation to the story as given in Skaandam. I hope you remember that as per Skaandam

KrishNa was accompanying Prasenan in the hunt. Somewhere along the way, they were separated and

Prasenan was killed by the lion and the Syamantaka MaNi landed up with Jambawan. KrishNa searched

and searched for Prasenan. Soon it was getting to be dark. By chance when he looked up at the sky, he

saw the fourth crescent of the moon. After the new moon, the first and second night, anyhow we will

not notice the moon. Third night the sliver of the crescent, is in the sky only for a short period. On the

fourth night however, it is more easily noticeable, because it is there in the western sky for about an

hour plus after twilight. So, thinking that it would not be prudent to remain in the forest any further,

he returned with his followers to Dwaraka.

When Prasenan did not return with KrishNa, Satrajit suspected KrishNa of foul play! As per

Bhagawatam, Satrajit suspected that KrishNa had dispatched some of his men to follow and kill

Prasenan in the forest! In his view, KrishNa already had an eye for the gem and got an opportunity to

dispose off Prasenan and grab the gem! When God takes birth in the form of a human being, he has to

undergo all the tribulations that man has to face. After all, the purpose of taking Avatara is to show by

example, as to how the human being should behave, when faced with difficult situations! “KrishNa has murdered Prasenan, stolen the Syamantaka MaNi gem from him and hidden it somewhere.” These were the two false criminal charges leveled against the innocent KrishNa. He went about everywhere

talking about this falsehood!


The public mind is very easily swayed and corrupted by rumor and innuendo. One day they will be

praising you to high heavens and the very next day they may not hesitate to think twice about letting

your name besmirched. We see this often, do we not? To some extent, it was always like that only,

even in Treta Yuga! It was only after the disposal of Kamsa that the Yadava community as a whole had

come out of their doldrums and seen some better days of prosperity. It was KrishNa's kindness which

saved them from great threats and hazards. Those very people were talking ill of KrishNa joining hands

with and adding their voices to that of Prasenan.

One could hear them talking, “Even when he was only a child, we knew that he was a regular thief. Thieving and duplicity, seem to be innate characteristics for him! He could have done this killing of

Prasenan and snatching of the Syamantaka MaNi and or even more!” They had forgotten the fact of being saved from Kalinga the poisonous snake and the event in which they were all saved from utter

destruction at the time of torrential rains, when he lifted the Govardhana Mountain and held it like an

umbrella under which the whole lot of people of Brindavan were assembled.

Sri Krishna felt very grieved of being accused of offences which he could never have even thought of.

He was not grieved really! He was beyond such human foibles and weaknesses. He just acted as though

he was much affected! He acted as though, he had lost his omniscience and omnipotence. He decided

to investigate and prove to the whole world as to how Prasenan died and what happened to the Gem

Syamantaka MaNi!

Having decided to investigate, KrishNa went to that part of the forest where Prasenan had gone, with

some close friends of Satrajit. They virtually followed the hoof marks of the horse ridden by Prasenan.

After some distance there were no hoof marks. Extensive blood stains and some bones of a horse and

a human being were seen. Some pieces of clothing worn by Prasenan, his ornaments and some of the

equipment used in riding the horse, like the saddle and stirrups were noticed. One could easily make

out that both the horse and the rider had been attacked, killed and eaten by one or more than one

carnivorous animals, from the fact that all the flesh and meat had been licked clean!

This was not conclusive proof still. Human beings could have been killed and then animals could have

eaten the meat. The doubting minds of the persons who had accompanied KrishNa were still not

convinced, especially because of the fact that the Syamantaka MaNi was missing from the scene!

Luckily, they happened to notice the spoors of more than one animal, prominent amongst which were

the spoors of a Lion leading away from the scene. They followed that. After some distance, they came

upon the carcass of a lion! Around that were the marks of the feet of a bear!

Bears are normally vegetarians, at least Indian ones used to be. Even carnivores normally would not

eat the flesh of another carnivore. That is the reason for the lion’s whole carcass lying there still, without much of degradation. Bear’s foot marks are bigger than other animals.

Story of Syamantaka Mani Told by Sri Kanchi Mahaswami

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