8 Immortals (Chiranjivis) From Hindu Mythology Who Are Still Alive
Mythology
is mysterious, especially Hindu mythology that has so much to offer from a lot
of the holy books that exist in Hinduism. Of course, most of us would have been
through at least one epic tale from the Hindu mythology and would have surely
heard of some character being immortal or Chiranjeevi or someone who was
blessed to be immortal. Well, some people might not believe it but proof has
been found that explains that maybe some of these characters are alive until
today.
Seven immortals are mentioned in one of the mantra of
Hindu scripture. It reads,
“अश्वत्थामाबलिर्व्यासोहनुमांश्चविभीषण:कृपश्चपरशुरामश्चसप्तैतेचिरंजीविन:।”
(AshwathaamaBalirvyaasoHanumanshchaVibhishanahaKrupaschaParshuramaschaSaptaiteyChiranjivinaha)
Apart
from the seven Chiranjivis mentioned above, there exist one another called Sage
Markandeya who attained immortality at the age of sixteen.
“अश्वत्थामाबलिव्र्यासोहनूमांश्चविभीषण:।कृप: परशुरामश्चसप्तएतैचिरजीविन:॥सप्तैतान्संस्मरेन्नित्यंमार्कण्डेयमथाष्टमम्।जीवेद्वर्षशतंसोपिसर्वव्याधिविवर्जित॥”
AshwathaamaBalirvyaasoHanumanshchaVibheeshanahaKrupahaParshuramaschaSaptaiteyChiranjivinahaSaptaitaanSamsmareynnityamMarkandeymathaashtamamJivedvarshshatamSopiSarvavyadhivivarjit
The
above lines mean that by remembering these 8 immortals everyday one can be free
of all ailments and live for more than 100 years.
Let’s talk about these eight Chiranjivis in detail:
1.
Ashwatthama
One
of the legendary characters from the Mahabharata. He
was the son of Dronacharya and has a big part in Mahabharata. He fought against
the Pandavas as he was a good friend to the eldest of the hundred Kauravas,
Duryodhana. Being the son of Dronacharya, he was a prodigy with all the
weapons. He also had Bramhastra which was given to him by his father out of
love, even he was not the right person for it to be given to. There is a gem on
his forehead since his birth that was gifted to him Lord Shiva that saved from
any wound and illness. Lord Krishna
came to justice and took away that gem because he had committed so many sins.
This left him in a bizarre state and to face the brutal consequence, he was
cursed to be immortal so that he would bear his misery forever. Therefore, he
is still believed to be alive.
2.
Mahabali
Mahabali
who is also known as Bali, Māveli or Indrasenan. He is a Daitya king found in
Hindu texts. Bali is the grandson of a descendant of Rishi Kashyapa, Prahlada.
Today in a Kerala tradition Mahabali is considered to be the prosperous and
noblest king who transforms his kingdom into a land of heaven on earth.
Mahabali was driven into Patal, the underworld by Vishnu’s Vamana Avatar. He
was a great devotee of Vishnu and was given a boon that he will become Lord
Indra in the next Mahayuga.
3.
Vyasa
Also
known as the author of Mahabharata. He is also credited as the writer of other
important works including the Puranas as well as the traditional compiler of
the Vedas. He symbolises sagacity and erudition. He was the son of Parashara, a
sage and his wife Satyawati, who was a fisherwoman. His great grandfather
Vashistha was also a sage. He took birth during the end of TretaYug and
survived till the entire Dvapara Yuga and the beginning of Kali Yuga. The
festival of Guru Purnima is truly dedicated to him and is also known as Vyasa
Purnima It’s the day of his birth and when he divided the Vedas. Vyasa is
considered to be still in existence according to Hindu tradition just like
other seven Chiranjivis.
4.
Lord Hanuman
One
of the biggest characters of Ramayana, Lord Hanuman was born to Anjani and
Kesari. He is believed to be a reincarnation of Lord Shiva. He is also called
Vaayu Putra because he was the godson of Vaayu Dev. Hanuman and Lord Rama were
meant to be together. When Sita was captured by Ravana and was taken to Lanka,
there was no way of reaching Lanka than flying because of the sea. Ravana took
her to Lanka using the PushpakVimaan. Because Lord Hanuman could fly, he flew
to Lanka to look for Sita and he found her in Ashok Vatika, inside the palace
of Ravana, which was made up of complete gold. When Sita and Lord Hanuman met
at Lanka, Sita blessed him to be immortal out of gratitude of finding her. Many
Ramayana scripts say that after Rama had defeated Ravana, Lord Hanuman was
asked to prove his loyalty and devotedness to Lord Rama after which he tore his
chest apart where we see Lord Rama and Sita. Fascinated by that, Lord Rama out
of gratitude healed him and also blessed him with immortality which Hanuman
refused and touched Rama’s feet. But, Rama blessed him with immortality anyway.
At the end of Treta Yuga, Lord Rama along with rest of his people drown himself
in the Sarayu River and move back to the heavens as Lord Vishnu, saying Hanuman
to stay at the Earth and protect it, as he was immortal. Traces of Lord Hanuman
still being alive are still found by some people and many people believe that
he is alive.
5.
Vibhishana
Vibhishana
was the youngest brother to Ravana, the main antagonist of the tale of
Ramayana. Ravana, Kumbhkarana, and Vibhishana were brothers who prayed to Lord
Brahma while they were kids and asked for some blessings. Ravana asked for
immense strength and power, Kumbhkarana yawned just before making a wish and
Vibhishana asked to be blessed with taking the side of truth always. Therefore,
while Ravana and Lord Rama were at war, Vibhishana knew that Lord Rama was
right and therefore requested his brother Ravana to release Sita and apologize to
Lord Rama, which had agitated Ravana and thus, Vibhishana was banished.
Vibhishana came to Lord Rama and had told him how Ravana could be killed and
that is how he was defeated. Despite belonging to the asura class, he was
devoted to Lord Rama and fought for what was right and thus, was blessed with
immortality.
6.
Kripacharya
He is the fourth avatar of Brahma and was the
royal guru of the princes in the Mahabharata. He was born extraordinarily to
Śaradvān and Jānapadī. King Shantanu adopted his sister Kripi and him. Later
on, Kripa became a teacher of the royal children and was named Kripacharya. His
twin sister Kripi was the wife of Dronacharya and had a son named Ashwatthama.
Kripa is widely acknowledged for his impartial attitude and also regarded his
students as his children. Kripa and his nephew Ashwatthama are the only left
warriors, who survived the War of Kurukshetra.7.
Parashurama
Parashurama
is believed to the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu who carried an axe. He was an
extremely skilled warrior and is said to have won all over the world as a
one-man army. He was born in a Brahmin family and was born for the sake of
removing the evil prevailing the Earth then, which was the Kshatriya class that
abused their powers to terrorize and tyrannize the common people. His
aggression was not invoked until a king named KartaviryaArjuna came to his hut
while he was away and used his power to take away the Surabhi cow that their
family had. When he returned and found out what had happened, he challenged KartaviryaArjuna
and defeated him. This agitated the rest of the kings and they all challenged
him to war but were all defeated. It is believed that Parashurama is immortal
so that he can teach the upcoming incarnation of Vishnu that art of all the
weapons so that he can eliminate all evil from the world.
8.
Markandeya
He
is an ancient rishi who took birth in the clan of Bhrigu Rishi. The
MarkandeyaPurana particularly contains a dialogue between Markandeya and a sage
named Jaimini, and the majority of chapters in the BhagavataPurana are
committed to his conversations and prayers. There is a story in which Lord
Shiva protected Markandeya from death by defeating Yama. His name also appears
in Mahabharata.
Very nice
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