Post No. 11,346
Date uploaded in London – 11 OCTOBER 2022
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Death of Babia, the vegetarian crocodile of a temple in Kerala, has been reported in all the leading newspapers of India. Hindus knew the background of such animals. Manu smrti gives a long list of sinners and their rebirths as animals. I have given some examples below. Mahabharata also gives a list of people who became CROCODILES. So one must read the story of Babiya with this in mind.
All Hindus knew how the greatest philosopher of India Adi Shankara extracted a promise from his mother that he can become an ascetic if the crocodile in the Kerala river leaves him alone. At that time he was caught by a crocodile. Now we know Adi Shankara deliberately called the crocodile to enact this drama.
Tamil saint Sundarar called the crocodile which divorced a boy long time ago and asked it to bring the boy back. And the crocodile obeyed him and brought the boy back from the Parallel Universe with proper growth in another galaxy. It is already in this blog as a Time Travel anecdote. So ,saints can command animals and they do obey them.
Here is what Mahabharata says:-
Arjuna came across a region where there was a beautiful lake with crocodiles. Brahmanas migrated to different regions fearing those crocodiles. Arjuna purposefully bathed in the tank and caught a crocodile which turned into an Apsara called Varga. She asked Arjun to catch other 4 crocodiles. Arjuna caught those man eating crocodiles and they became Apsara women too. MBH 1-216
Adi parva of the epic has another episode. Arjuna once saved his teacher Dronacharya from the clutches of a man eating crocodile. Whereupon he gave him ‘Brahmsir’ weapon and proclaimed the world will not see another archer like Arjuna
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Budbuda
One of five Apsaras who along with her colleagues Latha, Saurbeyi, Samichi and Varga were cursed by a Brahmana to live on earth for a hundred years as man eating crocodiles until she has over powered and saved by Arjuna. During the thirteen-year banishment in the forest when Arjuna went to bathe in a serene looking lake, Budbuda with the other four crocodiles attacked him but she was vanquished and later she went to Swarga in accordance with the terms of the curse.
Later when Arjuna went to Swarga to meet Indra to get Divine weapons, the five Apsaras girls danced and entertained Arjuna.
Why did the Brahmana curse them to become Crocodiles?
Once Varga, along with four Apsaras, was going to the House of Kubera. On the way they saw a pious Brahmana immersed in total meditation. Out of mischief they tried to interrupt his meditation by songs, music and laughter. The Brahmana out of anger cursed all five Apasaras would become Crocodiles and remain so for a hundred years. When the Apsaras apologised and begged for forgiveness, the Brahmana said after some time an illustrious man would pull them out of water and that would be their salvation.
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Crocodiles eating man or animals is a common theme in Tamil and Sanskrit literature. Tamil poet Tiru Valluvar used the Crocodile’s strength in water as a simile. Gajendra Moksha sculpture is famous from the days of the Gupta dynasty in which the elephant caught by a crocodile was saved by Vishnu. India being a tropical country was infested with crocodiles and all the rivers from Tamil Nadu to Himalayas had crocodiles. Indus valley civilisation seals show a fish in the mouth of a crocodile. Panchatantra story of Crocodile and the Monkey is known to all Hindus.
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FROM MANU SMRTI
BRAHMIN BECOMES A VULTURE
11-25. A Brahmana who, having begged any property for a sacrifice, does not use the whole (for that purpose), becomes for a hundred years a (vulture of the kind called) Bhasa, or a crow.
26. That sinful man, who, through covetousness, seizes the property of the gods, or the property of Brahmanas, feeds in another world on the leavings of vultures.
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STUDENT BECOMES AN ASS, DOG, WORM AND INSECT
2-201. By censuring his teacher, though justly, he will become in his next birth an ass, by falsely defaming him, a dog; he who lives on his teacher’s substance, will become a worm, and he who is envious of his merit, a larger insect.
202. He must not serve the teacher by the intervention of another while he himself stands aloof, nor when he himself is angry, nor when a woman is near; if he is seated in a carriage or on a raised seat, he must descend and afterwards salute his teacher.
203. Let him not sit with his teacher, to the leeward or to the windward of him; nor let him say anything which his teacher cannot hear.
204. He may sit with his teacher in a carriage drawn by oxen, horses, or camels, on a terrace, on a bed of grass or leaves, on a mat, on a rock, on a wooden bench, or in a boat.
205. If his teacher’s teacher is near, let him behave towards him as towards his own teacher; but let him, unless he has received permission from his teacher, not salute venerable persons of his own family.
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Here is the story reported by newspapers on 10-10-2022
Vegetarian crocodile that lived in Kerala temple pond dies, hundreds pay homage
A vegetarian crocodile which had been living in a temple pond in Kerala’s Kasaragod district for more than seven decades died Sunday night. Hundreds of devotees paid homage to the crocodile, named Babiya, when its body was placed in a mobile freezer on the premises of the Sree Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple at Kumbla on Monday.
The crocodile, which lived in the pond by eating only the rice and jaggery offerings at the temple, had been a major attraction among devotees who attributed divinity to the otherwise carnivorous animal. Babiya was offered the prasadam (offering) twice a day after the pujas at the temple.
The creature was never known to have turned violent or attacked devotees. Two years ago, the crocodile made its way to the steps of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum.
The temple has no records that indicate how the large reptile reached its pond when there is no river or other water body in the vicinity. Temple lore says a British soldier had shot a crocodile at the shrine in 1945 and within a few days another crocodile, later named Babiya, emerged.
After learning of its demise, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje tweeted, “Babiya, the god’s own crocodile of Sri Ananthapura Lake temple has reached Vishnu Padam. The divine crocodile lived in the temple’s lake for over 70 years by eating the rice & jaggery prasadam of Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy & guarded the temple.’’
It is believed that the temple is the original seat or moolasthanam of Padmanabha (Vishnu), the deity at the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
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The disconsolate devotees keep flowing to Ananthapura Anantha Padmanabha Swami temple, Kasaragod to attend the funeral rites of their dearest Babiya, a mugger crocodile that ate only vegetarian food over the years. The crocodile was found dead around 10 pm on Sunday, on the south side of the lake near the temple.
For many decades, the presence of the crocodile, which eats only vegetarian food given by the devotees and temple officials, in the lake near the temple, was attracting many devotees from Kerala and Karnataka. Babiya could be seen in the small pond on the northern side of the temple at times.
The devotees who visit the temple would wait patiently to have a look at the ‘godly presence in the water. When they couldn’t see the crocodile, they would shout, “Babiya, come, take this food from us”. “I have been here for more than three decades and have not heard about an incident in which the crocodile turned violent,” said Lakshmana Hebbar (63), manager of the temple.
“We have this feeling that the crocodile was not feeling well for some time. Veterinary doctors were called to the temple to have a look at the creature,’ he said. “When we were not seeing Babiya for the last two days, we started searching for it and on Sunday night, we found it lying dead,” said Hebbar.
“The legend is that a British soldier had killed a crocodile in the temple pond in 1945. On the very night, when the crocodile was shot dead, Babiya appeared in the pond. The mysterious appearance has forced the devotees to think that, the creature has divine elements in it,” said Hebbar. It is said that the crocodile is about 77 years of age now.
Om Shanti.
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tags- Crocodile, Babiya, Apsaras, Varga, Budbutha, Samichi, Manu on rebirths,
Tamil and Vedas 