Therefore
on the eleventh of the brighter half of the Phalgun month, Barbareek
sang devotional songs in the whole night and on the morning
of the twelfth, after bathing and doing his morning prayers,
he gave his head to the playful Lord Krishna.
"BOLO SHISH KE DANI KE JAI"
At that moment, all the Pandava brothers arrived there and began
telling Lord Krishna, "Lord! Why have you asked for this
innocent brave man's head? Then "Siddha Ambika, Tara, Kapali,
Suvarna, Trikola, Chandika, Praneshwari, Bhutambika, Kodhmatru,
Harisiddha, Charcha-cheeka, Yogeshwari & Tripura etc., goddesses
appeared, and said "Oh brave Pandavas! Hear from us the
reason for taking the sacrifice of Barbareek's head.
Once upon a time all the Gods prayed to Shri Vishnu that Lord!
The unrighteousness on earth has increased greatly. Please lessen
this burden from the earth. Then Lord Vishnu assured everyone
and putting their minds of rest promised that he would take
an incarnation and remove the burden from the earth. Then a
Yaksha named Suryavarcha, who was present there, said that he
alone could take an incarnation and he would remove earth's
burden. As soon as he said that, Lord Brahma became extremely
furious and he cursed Suryavarcha saying that whenever the time
comes for him to remove the world's burden, he would die by
the hands of Shri Krishna. Then Suryavarch asked what he could
do to escape from Lord Brahma's curse. Lord Vishnu said that
whenever the burden of sin and unrighteousness will descend
on the earth, Shri Krishna will release you from your curse
and with his blessings you will become famous. He is the same
brave man whose head Shri Krishna has taken as a sacrifice and
behind this also lies the good for righteousness.
Thereafter Shri Krishna and the goddesses secured Barbareek's
head at the top of a high hill near the battlefield with the
help of nectar vines so that he could watch the war till its
end. Then after blessing the Pandavas and the head of Barbareek,
the goddesses disappeared.
The most destructive, most desolate war of Mahabharata started.
Lakhs of soldiers were killed from both sides on the battlefield
and it was only after 18 days of fierce battle that with great
difficulty the question of victory and defeat was decided. It
was because of the artful Shri Krishna's policies that the Pandavas
could achieve victory. On achieving victory, all the five Pandavas
began describing their own individual courage in glorious terms
and began to show arrogance at their victory. Each of them was
thinking himself to be the cause of this victory. While Arjuna
was arrogant about his archery skills, Bhim was proud of his
clubbing skills. Each of them thought himself to be the rightful
recipient of victory.
Then Shri Krishna said, "Oh brave Pandavas! Don't be so
proud of yourselves. The correct decision regarding the real
winner can only be taken by the brave Barbareek's head. You
all were fighting in the battle but that brave man's head has
seen all that happened on the battlefield from beginning to
end from the top of the hill with rapt attention. Come, let's
go, and ask the brave Barbareek's head." All the Pandava
brothers accompanied Shri Krishna to the peak of the hill where
Barbareek's head was secured with nectar vines. In front of
Barbareek's head, all the Pandavas began to say that they were
each responsible for the victory and were so happy that they
couldn't contain their happiness within themselves.
Then Barbareek's head smiled and said, "Oh brave Pandavas!
You have achieved the victory in this war only because of Lord
Krishna's plans and policies. It was only because of this artful
God's delusions that you have emerged victorious. The actual
winner of this war is only Lord Krishna. It's only because of
his wisdom and policies that you have won the great battle of
Mahabharata.
Barbareek's head continued, "Oh brave Pandavas, I could
see only the Sudarshan Chakra revolving everywhere which was
hacking the Kaurava army to pieces and Draupadi assuming the
fearful form of Mahakali Durga, was drinking bowl after bowl
of blood and was not allowing even one drop of blood to fall
on the earth." Saying this Barbareek's head became silent
and flowers were showered from heaven on his head.
Hearing all this, the Pandavas became ashamed of themselves
and started begging for forgiveness. Lord Krishna said, "Barbareek,
I am pleased with your great sacrifice and I grant you the boon
that you will be greatly worshipped by the name of Shyam in
my form only in the Kaliyug. Devotees will be blessed just by
remembering you and by worshipping you with a true heart and
piety, all the jobs of the devotee will be completed."
The brave, philanthropic, generous, courageous Barbareek's head
was later buried in the land of Khatu and by Lord Krishna's
boon, and then the time came for the head to appear. A shepherd
used to graze the cows of Khatu outside Khatu. One of the cows
while returning home after grazing used to stop at a place some
distance away from the village and milk used to start flowing
from her teats into the earth. The cow's owner was very worried
and upset that his cow was not giving any milk daily. He admonished
the shepherd and asked him whether he milked the cow every evening
so that the cow was not giving any milk to him. Even after the
shepherd denied, the cow's owner did not believe him and followed
the cow the whole day and what he saw was that at a particular
distance from the village, milk starts flowing from the teats
of the cow and enters the earth. Seeing this, he was dumbstruck
with astonishment and began wondering who was inside the earth
that drank the milk in such a fashion. He became eager to know
more about this.
He started getting the field dug up. When the digging was completed,
a sound was heard beneath the earth. Then he gave orders for
the digging operation to proceed slowly. After passage of some
time, the brave Barbareek's head i.e. Shyamji's head was found.
The cow's owner gave away the head to a Brahmin. That Brahmin
worshipped the head continuously for many days in his house.
According to Bhaghavat Purana, this place was the town of Khatu
Khatank. In a dream, the king of this place saw Shyamji's head,
who told him "Oh King! You build a temple here and taking
the head from the Brahmin, install it in the temple. You will
also get a share in the fame for this." Then a temple was
built in that city and the head of Shyamji that is Barbareekji
was installed there at an auspicious time according to rites
and rituals on the 11th of the brighter half of the Kartik month.Even
today those devotees who meditate and worship the sacrificer
of the head-shyamji with a true heart, faith and deep devoutness,
Shri Shyamji riding on a blue horse comes running to fulfill
their prayers.The Shyamji of Khatu if known by various names.
In
the midst of Khatu town, a beautiful temple of Makrana is build
of Shri Shyam-the donor of the head. There is a Shyam pond at
a little distance from the temple where the head of Shri Shyamji
had appeared. There is a special importance to bathing in that
pond. Many devotees believe that by bathing in that pond, the
afflictions of the body are cured. There is a Shyam garden a
little distance away from the temple. The flowers for the decoration
of Shri Shyam are chosen from here.
Arati is done five times in Shyamji's temple. All the times,
devotees immersed in devoutness and joyful prayer, dance and
sing. A big fair is held at Khatu on the twelfth of the Shukla
Paksha of the Phalgun month. Lakhs of men and women sing devotional
songs on the night of the eleventh and getting immersed in the
joy of Krishna, they dance the whole night. And at dawn of the
twelfth, people go to the temple and worship Shri Shyam. People
take their children for mundan ceremony and newly wed couples
offer prayers for their happy married life on the 12th of Shukla
Paksha in the month of Phalgun.
In
the fair, lakhs of devotees walk in procession of foot from
Reengas to Khatu carrying religious symbols and offer those
colorful symbols of Shri Shyam at Khatu temple. Though devotees
throng Khatu daily, it is on Vijaydasahmi that Khatu is overcrowded
with devotees. The sight of thousands of devotees offering unique
symbols of their faith of Shri Shyam with songs and dances is
a marvelous sight. On the 11th of the brighter half of the Kartik
month also, Shri Shyam's birthday is celebrated with gusto and
fervor in Khatu.
"BOLO SHYAM PRABHU KI JAI"
"LELE KE SAWAR KI JAI"
"SHISH KE DANI KI JAI"
Therefore
on the eleventh of the brighter half of the Phalgun month, Barbareek
sang devotional songs in the whole night and on the morning
of the twelfth, after bathing and doing his morning prayers,
he gave his head to the playful Lord Krishna.
In
the midst of Khatu town, a beautiful temple of Makrana is build
of Shri Shyam-the donor of the head. There is a Shyam pond at
a little distance from the temple where the head of Shri Shyamji
had appeared. There is a special importance to bathing in that
pond. Many devotees believe that by bathing in that pond, the
afflictions of the body are cured. There is a Shyam garden a
little distance away from the temple. The flowers for the decoration
of Shri Shyam are chosen from here.
In
the fair, lakhs of devotees walk in procession of foot from
Reengas to Khatu carrying religious symbols and offer those
colorful symbols of Shri Shyam at Khatu temple. Though devotees
throng Khatu daily, it is on Vijaydasahmi that Khatu is overcrowded
with devotees. The sight of thousands of devotees offering unique
symbols of their faith of Shri Shyam with songs and dances is
a marvelous sight. On the 11th of the brighter half of the Kartik
month also, Shri Shyam's birthday is celebrated with gusto and
fervor in Khatu. 