| Vashisht Vaid |
According to the Vamana Purana:-
Lord Narayan became pleased by Kashyap’s eulogies and austere penance. He appeared before the deities and asked them to demand anything they wished for. Kashyap requested him to give Aditi, the privilege of becoming his mother. Lord Vishnu agreed to take birth as Aditi’s son.
“The deities became pleased and all of them proceeded back towards Kashyap’s hermitage. When they reached Kurukshetra, the place where Kashyap had his hermitage, they inspired Aditi to commence her penance to please Lord Vishnu. Aditi did a severe penance for 10,000 years.” The place where she did her penance later on became famous as the Aditivan”.
This is the same historical ancient Aditivan where Maharishi Kasyap used to live with his wife Aditi, which is currently situated in the village of Amin, which is located at a distance of about 8 kilometers from the historical city of Kurukshetra, about 8 km to the east of Kurukshetra University. At Amin there are two 'kundas' (sacred tanks), one attributed to Aditi and second to her son lord Surya.
In this village of Amin is that "tirth-sthal" (holy spot) called "Surya Kund", where Mother Aditi, the wife of Kasyap rishi gave birth to the Sun God (Surya Dev). This spot is said to be empowered by the hard worship of 86000 "Rishi-Munis" and the villagers generally leave the "asthi (mortal remains after the pyre is burnt) kalash" after cremation in that sarovar (kund). A strong belief prevails that if any pregnant lady takes a bath in that holy kund, then the upcoming male child will have excellent qualities like bravery & power.
One of other the important places in Amin village is a very old fort in the village of Amin. This fort is situated at a higher level than the rest of the village. Local People say that in the Mahabharat times, this fort belonged to the great son of Arjuna , the famous Abhimanyu, It is also prevalent as a folklore in the local people that the Pandavas arrayed their great forces before the last battle in the war of Mahabharatha at this village of Amin.
This ancient vedic land of Kurukshetra was situated between two rivers — the Saraswati and the Drishadvati. This land has been known as Uttravedi, Brahmavedi, Dharamkshetra and Kurukshetra at different periods. When King Kuru came on this land it was called Uttarvedi. Over the period this land has been ruled by many empires. The Bharata Dynasty later came and settled on this land.
Later the Battle of Mahabharata was fought on this land between Kaurava and Pandavas, during which Lord Krishna preached Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. This ancient battlefield occupies a very large area of around 80 square kilometers. The battle field is mainly divided in seven forests. These forests are named as Kamyavan, Aditivan, Vyasvan, Fulkivan, Suryavan, Madhuvan, and Sitavan.
It is said that the war of Mahabharata took place in first three forests, namely Kamyavan, Aditivan, and Vyasvan. As the strength of both Pandavas and Kauravas armies was very big, this extremely large battlefield was selected for the war. This was the place where Lord Krishna gave the famous teachings of Bhagavad-Gita to Arjun as he was not ready to fight his own relatives to get the Kingdom of Hastinapur. Today's Delhi where the Purana Qila stands, was the capital city of Pandava’s kingdom, known as Indraprastha.
Kurukshetra reached the zenith of its progress during the reign of King Harsha, during which Chinese scholar Hieun Tsang visited this land at Thanesar. By the archaeological grounds it has been proved that Ashoka the Great in 3rd centuary BC, made Kurukshetra a centre of learning for people from all over the world.
According to the vamana Purana :- The sages requested Lomaharshan to reveal about river Saraswati’s origin, which flowed in Kurukshetra. Lomaharshan said- “Saraswati originates from Paakad tree (Indian fig tree). She enters Dwaitvan after passing through numerous mountains. While describing about her majesty, sage Markandeya felt that Saraswati was the source from, which everything originated- all the three worlds, three Vedas, Vidya (learning), heavenly bodies like Sun, Moon etc. Once, sage Markandeya eulogised Saraswati by saying- “O Saraswati! You manifest in the form of cryptic mantra- “OMKAR”. You are the eternal form through which the Almighty God (Brahma) manifests himself in different appearances.”
Saraswati was pleased by his devotion and said- “O Brahmin! I am willing to go wherever you want to take me.” According to Markandeya, river Saraswati was initially known as Brahmasar. Later on, she became famous as Ramhalad. Sage Markandeya requested Saraswati to flow in the territory of Kurukshetra where sage Kuru was doing his penance. This way, Saraswati diverted her course towards Kurukshetra.
The sages requested Lomaharshan to describe about the geographical condition of Kurukshetra. Lomaharshan replied- “There are 7 different forest ranges in Kurukshetra. They are- “Kamyakvan, Aditivan, Vyasavan, Phalkivan, Suryavan, Madhuvan and Sheetvan. Nine rivers flow across Kurukshetra- Saraswati, Vaitarni, Aashga, Mandakini Ganga, Madhustrava, Vaasu, Kaushiki, Kaggar and Hiranyavati. Kurukshetra is believed to be the most sacred place of pilgrimage. A pilgrim visiting Kurukshetra should begin his pilgrimage only after worshipping the Yaksha. He should then pay a visit to the famous Aditivan where Aditi had accomplished a severe penance to get a son. By doing this, he is blessed with sons possessing all the good qualities. After that, he should pay a visit to a place called Savan where Lord Hari dwells. A devotee who pays a visit to Lord Vimaleshwar becomes liberated from all his sins and goes to Rudraloka after his death. Some other places of pilgrimage situated in Kurukshetra and which are considered to be very sacred are Paritlav, Kaushiki, Dharani, Daksha’s hermitage, Shaalukini, Sarpeedadhi, the temples at the bank of Panchnad river, Vaaraha temple, Someshwar temple etc.”
“A devotee should also pay a visit to Ramkunda where Parashuram, from the Brighu clan, the clan of Chhibber mohyals had constructed five ponds and filled them up with the blood of the Kshatriyas, whom he had killed. He had pacified the soul of his ancestors by performing Tarpan with the blood of the dead Kshatriyas. The dead ancestors were pleased with him and blessed him in becoming free from the sins, which he had acquired because of killing Kshatriyas.”
The ancient Hindu scripture Rajtarangini, regarded as one of the most ancient and famous historical texts of the Indian sub-continent talks about Maharishi Kasyap in details. According to this great scripture, the whole of the Kashmir valley was under water, and in its place was a big lake known as "Satisar" which was named after Shiva's consort “Sati”. The people living on the banks of the lake were threatened by an invincible monster - Jalodbhave. . It was on the Kashyap rishi's pleading with Vishnu that gods and goddess came to help to kill the monster. Goddess Sharika who is revered in Kashmir, assumed the form of a dove and brought a small 'hill' (The Hari Parbat or Sharika Devi's Parbat) in its beak and crushed the monster with that 'hill'. It was after that, Kashyap Rishi drained the water through number of rivers and rivulets and what emerged was a valley of enchanting beauty, whom the saint named "Kashyap Murh" or Kashyap Mar. As time passed, the nomenclature changed and finally the `Paradise on Earth' came to be known as Kashmir
Maharishi Kashyap wrote a treaties known as the Kashyap Samhita, which is also known as Braddha pr Viiddha Jivakiya Tantra, is an important treatise on Ayurveda medicine written in ancient India by the sage Kashyap, which is one of the first Ayurvedic texts of the ancient world. Today, Kashyap Samhita is considered, a classical reference book on Ayurveda especially in the fields of Ayuvedic Pediatrics, Gynecology & Obstetrics. It is also now a part of the Ayurveda teaching syllabus especially in Kaumarbhrityal Balroga (Pediatrics). In the Kashyapa Samhita, the Ayurveda is taught using question-and-answer style: The questions relate to the commencement of diseases, diagnosis, treatment, and management, which were asked by his student disciples, and then answered by the Sage Kashyapa himself.
Kurukshetra is located between the cities of Ambala and Panipat. There are regular buses available for Kurukshetra from Delhi. However, hired car or taxi is the best option to reach to this historical tow
Great article.
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