Arthatatvam

  Once upon a time, the Nagas (serpents), lived on the banks of river Vitasta in Sati Desha (current Kashmir). The Nagas were the children of Sage Kashyapa and Kadru. They were living happily until a demon named Jalodbhava started troubling them. Jalododbhava had a boon that he cannot be defeated by anyone as long as he remains in water. The helpless Nagas informed their King Nila about this. King Nila contemplated for a while and then approached his father, Kashyapa for help. Then both of them went to Brahma loka and asked Brahma for help. He redirected them to Vaikunta. Lord Vishnu told he would help them but he would need the support of other gods. On Kashyapa's request, all the other gods along with Lord Vishnu and Brahma went to Sati Desha. Kashyapa asked all the gods to surround the Vitasta river and asked Vishnu to drain the river. Vishnu then commanded Adishesha to break one side of the Himalayan mountain. Soon, Jalodbhava came out of the water. Then a fierce battle took pl...

  Once upon a time, Sage Vishwamitra and Vasishtha were having a debate. Vishwamitra said that Dyana (meditation) was more powerful than Japa  (continuous chanting of the Lord's name) . Vasishtha disagreed and said Japa was more powerful. Soon, they reached an impasse. So, they approached Lord Vishnu for a solution. Vishnu asked Adishesha (King of serpents) to settle the debate between them. Adishesha agreed and said he could not think as he was carrying the earth on his head. He asked one of them to carry it while he did some thinking. Both, the sages agreed. Vishwamitra carried the earth on his head first and started meditating. No sooner had he lifted the earth, he could not bear it's weight. Immediately, Vasishtha volunteered and placed the earth on his head and started chanting "Hariye Namah" (japa of Lord Vishnu). Vasishtha could easily carry the weight of the earth. Adishesha then intervened and said as you can see, Japa is more powerful than meditation. Hence,...