[SJC: Achyuta Gurukul] Remedies for cleaning out negative karma - To Swee

[Guest guest]

Om Gurave Namah

Dear Swee,

My responses…

Swee: Then in the beginning of Kali Yuga, the Lord will appear as

Lord Buddha, the son of Anjaneya in the province of Gayaa, just for

the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.

Lakshmi: Well, I always thought that Gautama Buddha was born to King

Suddhodana !!

Swee: The Bhagavad Gita states that the Lord incarnates whenever

there is a decline of our noble/moral values and vile and wicked acts

take an upper hand. These incarnations come in the mortal form.

Ravana was to be slain by a man, so HE came in that mortal form.

Lakshmi: When Ravana sought the boon of deathlessness, out of sheer

disdain, he did not include both Nara (man ) and Vaanara (monkey) in

the list of those who could not kill him. Involvement of these two,

i.e., nara and vaanara would cause the downfall of Ravana, hence, a

whole host of devas came in the form of monkeys to help Rama in

killing Ravana.

All of them, whether you call them gods or demi-gods, are various

manifestations of a Higher Energy, which came together for the sake

of dharma and ridding the earth of demons.

Swee: What you have missed is that the penance from Hiranyakashipu

was so great that even Demi Gods feared him after he was given a

boon. Hanuman was not one of the Great Avataras of the Great

Unsullied Lord but nevertheless, he is a Demi God. Both Ravana and

Hiranyakashipu asked for boons that were not infallible to the main

Avataras of the Lord.

Lakshmi: Yes, Swee you are very correct. Infact, this was precisely

the point that I kept in mind when I suggested Hanuman worship and

not Narasimha worship. I presume a person would not use a medicine

indended to cure brain cancer for a normal head ache, however painful

it might be. Why talk about brain cancer, even the medicine

prescribed for migraine would be quite different from the Anacin pill

we routinely pop in for tackling an occasional headache.

What Tina had reported obviously pertains to an unhappy soul, who is

unlikely to grow into another Hiranyakashyapa. What that distressed

and wayward soul badly needs is a direction, which Hanuman, as the

Son of Vaayu can easily provide. The Bhagavan need not be troubled

for a job, which is assigned to and can easily be handled by the

Bhakta. Only if the Bhakta (Hanuman) proves unequal to the task, then

the supreme power of Narayana can be invoked. And, if Rama naama is

there, and Hanuman is there, will Rama Himself not be there? Had not

the Lord said this…

"naaham vasaami vaikunthe na yogi hridaye….

Madbhaktha yatra gaayanthi tatra tishtaami Naarada"

That He would stay neither in Vaikuntha or in the hearts of yogis. He

would stay where his devotees sing of him in ecstasy". Remember

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?

Swee: In the genealogy, the decending order from Vishnu was Brahma

who came in the form of Vasishtha. His son was Shakti who begot a son

by the name of Parashara. Shakti was eaten by a demon and Prashara in

obstinate hatred performed a yagna that was so great he even burnt

innocent rakshasas. With his grandfather's advice, Parashara

abandoned his wrath and was blessed jointly by Pulastya to be the

author of Puraana Samhita. Thus Parashara became the best of the Guru

Parampara.

You will see chanting of the mantras to Agni Deva by Parashara

(Vishnu Purana)………. So according to your reasoning, we should be

following his instructions on remedies as he is from this Yuga. Yes?

If affirmative, then why do we have any need to go out of Parashara

Muni's instructions ( which we are) by recommending alternative

remedies? We also need to ask ourselves what are we striving to

instruct - Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic literature?

Lakshmi: Swee, invocation to Agni is very much pertinent even now.

Agni is the energy we invest in action. Every act we perform is a

yagnya, every thought of ours is a yagnya. This birth is a yagna and

the death too is a yagnya and all the karma we commit in between the

two is a yagnya. It is either antar yagnya or bahir yagnya or both of

them together. There is no other way. That is the level of

sanctity /purity attached by the Maharishis to human life and its

conduct. Infact, that understanding is very relevant even now,

perhaps more than ever before. My earlier reference to yuga was only

because I thought you were questioning that why Narasimha had to kill

Hiranyakashipu and not Hanuman, and not in any other context.

The worship of Shiva, Durga, Skandha, Ganesha etc was also

recommended by Parashara. While on the topic of puranas, I hope you

are not forgetting Brahma purana, Linga puran, Skandha purana among

the 18 mahapuranas?

And Swee, finally, it is the purpose and the intent behind the prayer

that decides whether something is tamasic, rajasic or sattvik. Kaali

is supposed to be a tamasic aspect of Mother, but to Sri Ramakrishna

and to the millions of Bengalis who worship Her, She is as tame as

Lalitha Devi or Tripura sundari. They can see the laughter lurking

behind Her protruding tongue and infinite compassion behind Her

fearsome countenance. She is Mother, that's all…it is we who impute

those gunas to her.

Hinduism is a rich tapestry of kaleidoscopic thoughts and beliefs but

with Perfect Amity at its core, and I wouldn't trade its vigorous

variety with any other watered down version. In Sri Chakra, there

are countless trikonas, Chatushkonas etc, but they all converge on

the Purna Bindu at the center… as all the colours converge in white

Sunlight. When seen through rain, the colours do separate, but then

that makes for beautiful rainbows, na? I daresy that one day All that

Beauty will lead us to the truth.

Swee: If I've hit on a nerve, I promise to refrain from further

discussions. But do wish me luck for tomorrow's day long Bridge

Tournament J

Lakshmi: Swee, it is always a pleasure to get a response from a

learned person like you, and you do know that I hold you in high

esteem. Ofcourse, I may not agree with all that you say. But then

there is no compulsion also that we need to agree on all matters, we

can disagree and still be friends, right? BTW, how did the tournament

go? I couldn't write earlier as I myself went to Tirumala for two

days.

 

Love,

Lakshmi