Akshay Tritiya - Not just a Shopping Festival!

Akshay Tritiya is here and you must have seen jewelry stores and car show-rooms around your area flashing special offers and discounts so much that it may seem that the day is only about buying stuff. But there’s more to this festival than just buying gold or expensive assets! 

Akshay means undiminishing and Tritiya implies the third day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Vaishakh. The beginning of this month was celebrated by Punjabis as Baisakhi, Bengalis as Pohela Boishakh, Biharis as Satuani and as Bihu by the Assamese. The Tamilians celebrate it as Puthandu, Malyalis as Vishu, and Odiyas as Vishuva Sankranti. Needless to say this month is extremely important for many people in the country and Akshay Tritiya also happens to be an important day of this month.

It is considered auspicious for starting new ventures as anything that is initiated today is expected to grow exponentially. This is the reason you see people going on a shopping spree since they believe accumulation of wealth would attract more of it in the future!

If we move away from the materialism and come to the spiritual significance of the day, Akshay Tritiya is believed to be the day when Lord Parshu-Raam, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu was born. We know Raam-Navmi and Krishna-Janmashtami fairly well but the birthday of this particular Avatar of Lord Vishnu somehow doesn’t find that much importance today. One reason for this may be that Lord Parshu-Raam is associated with a lot of carnage and bloodshed, which is difficult for an ordinary person to digest. But if we actually analyze his life, we realize that this simple Brahmin boy had no option but to turn into a killing machine, for the purpose of ridding the earth of a race of corrupt and tyrant rulers.

 {Check out his inspiring story here - https://amzn.to/2HxYG5h}

Lord Parshu-Raam was born in the Treta-Yug, the second age in the Hindu cycle of time that consists of Satyug, Treta, Dwapar and the current Kaliyug. He was the son of a Saptarishi called Jamdagni, and his wife Renuka. Again while we know the birth place of Shri Raam as Ayodhya and that of Shri Krishna as Mathura, many people do not know where Parshu-Raam was born. The son of Jamdagni and Renuka was born in a small Ashram at the top of a hill called Janapav, near the city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Unlike the bustling cities of Ayodhya and Mathura, Janapav is located on an obscure hill that is covered with lush green forests that give rise to the river Chambal. There is a small temple at the top and a new, bigger one is coming up with the help of donations by the few people who visit it infrequently. {You can check out this place here - Finding Parshuraam}

Another important aspect of Akshay Tritiya is that Rishi Ved-Vyas is believed to have started reciting the Mahabharat on this day. Vyas did not write the epic himself but took the help of Lord Ganesh to pen it down while he himself dictated. It makes sense that the learned sage would have chosen this auspicious day for beginning his mega epic as this is one of the three days of the Hindu calendar when you do not have to wait for a specific muhurat to start something new.

The day is also associated with another character from Mahabharat – Shri Krishna – who helped his poor friend Sudama this day. The story is a beautiful reminder of the special bond that friends share irrespective of their social status and sets an ideal for friendship in today’s materialistic age. Shri Krishna helped his poor childhood friend in a way Sudama couldn't even have dreamed of and it is an inspiring lesson for all of us.

There are other important events associated with the festival as well but let us limit ourselves to these for today. As I mentoned above, Akshay Tritiya is also one of the three days including the day of Yugadi and Vijay Dashmi that are considered auspicious for any new activity irrespective of the muhurat.

So today, don’t just buy expensive stuff and instead take the initiative to finally start the project you have been postponing for a long time. May this day be auspicious for all your beginnings!

Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti: