Meaning Behind The Madhu Kaitabha Story

May 29, 2006

Namaste learned friends,

Someone queried a while back on the meaning behind the story of Madhu Kaitabha. Here is a quick reply based on my limited understanding.

* * *

Madhu means honey. "Madhu keeta" means an insect of honey, i.e. honey bee. Madhu kaita means belonging to honey bees. It can be the qualities or nature of honey bees. One of the meanings of "bha" is "having a similarity to". Thus, in my judgment, "Madhu Kaitabha" means "having a semblance to the nature of honey bees".

* * *

Like I keep saying, Sanskrit is a fantastic language. Sanskrit names selected by Rishis for expressing various concepts and stories are very thoughtful. Depending on how deep one goes, there are many meanings of the same word.. Thus, Rishis expressed concepts that may have one meaning to a layman and a different meaning to one who is ready to understand the deeper meaning! I salute to the wisdom of our Rishis!

I was saying the same thing at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam last weekend. When somebody said at an open discussion that the idea is important and not the name, as there are many names of the same thing in many languages, I made a quick point about the value of Sanskrit names. I said that Sanskrit names have not one meaning, but layers of meanings that can be understood based on the capability of the reader. Rishis used this to hide some special meanings and to keep some higher knowledge as secret, even though it is very much out there! The example I gave was of bhava and pada. Parasara described bhavas (houses) and how to find their respective padas (arudha padas of houses) and said that a bhava and its pada should be judged to see the matters of a house. Though he did not explain the difference between a bhava and its pada further and did not elucidate when to use which one, I said that the very choice of names is a huge clue! Bhava, which is usually translated as a house, also means "a thought/concept/feeling" and pada means "a symbol/word" used to express a thought/concept. Thus, houses are to their arudha padas what thoughts (bhavas) are to the words (padas) that attempt to express them. For example, if the 4th house shows one's happiness, the pada of 4th house shows the tangible articles that attempt to throw light on one's happiness (e.g. vehicle owned by one, TV owned by one etc). Houses (bhavas) show intangible/internal aspects of a matter (just like thoughts inside one's head), while their arudha padas show tangible/external aspects of a matter (just like the external words spoken that attempt to express the thoughts in the head). If you use the English words to translate Parasara, this hidden meaning may be lost! So, I argued that Sanskrit names used by Rishis are not like words in any language.

* * *

Anyway, let us come back to the Madhu Kaitabha story. As I said, Madhu Kaitabha means "having a semblance to the quality of honeybees". What is the quality of honey bees? Well, they keep working hard to accumulate the sweet honey! They are not intelligent enough to think about any higher things in life. Thus, Madhu Kaitabha are an allegory to the quality within us which makes us work hard, like honeybees, with a single-minded focus on accumulating material comforts. Like honeybees accumulate honey, we accumulate material objects and spend whole life working hard doing just that.

Vishnu is a personification of the sattwa guna of the Parama Purusha (Universal/Absolute Being). Within us, Vishnu is an allegory to the sattwa guna within us. Madhu Kaitabha were born from Vishnu's earwax when He was alseep. The ability to work hard like a bee is not really a terrible thing. This ability is essentially born from the sattwa guna within us, when it is in deep slumber (i.e. sattwa guna covered by taamasi shakti, i.e. sattwa guna that "manifests" in a taamasik way).

There are so many good people in this world, who just spend their entire lives in honest labor like the honeybees and accumulate things for themselves and others around them. Their sattwa is in deep sleep and Madhu Kaitabha born from that asleep sattva are very much active.

The problem with this focus on hard work and accumulation of material objects is that it keeps us away from supreme bliss. Madhu Kaitabha's attack on Brahma and Vedas is symbolic of that. Vedas symbolize the supreme and liberating knowledge of self and Brahma, the carrier of Vedas, symbolizes the sadhana to achieve the supreme knowledge. The focus on working like honeybees and accumulating material objects tries to kills one's ability to do sadhana and obtain supreme knowledge of self.

Vishnu battles Madhu Kaitabha for 5,000 years. Devi Bhagavatam even describes that Vishnu wondered in the middle how to defeat Madhu Kaitabha, as He finds them quite formidable! Even when the sattva in us awakens, it is difficult for it to overcome the formidable instinct to lead the life of a honeybee and to accumulate the material objects for oneself and others.

When Madhu Kaitabha finally agree to be slain by Vishnu, they ask Him to kill them in a place where there is no water. They see that there is water all around and think that there is no place where there is no water. The Mooladhara, Swadhishthana, Manipoora, Anahata and Visuddhi chakras are the seats of earthy, watery, fiery, airy and ethery elements respectively. Swadhishthana chakra is supposed to control desires and hence water symbolizes desire. As long as there is desire, it is tough to overcome the instinct of just working for material objects!

When they want a place that has no water, Vishnu shows his thighs. There is no water there and only earthy element. This suggests that Parama Purusha's Mooladhara chakra is in the thighs of Vishu. (Note: If Chandra Hari is reading this, he will probably realize that this point supports his view on Mooladhara! But I will not say anything more on it for now, as it is a totally different topic. But I do want to acknowledge that this supports his view.)

According to Parasara, thighs are seen from the 9th house of dharma. The earthy element symbolizes the commitment and stability. The fact that earthy element came from the thighs of Vishnu shows that it is the dharma of sattwa guna sustaining this universe that ensures that there is commitment and stability in this creation.

Moreover, it is apt that someone born in the ears (3rd house) of Vishnu found end in the thighs (9th house, i.e. 7th house of death from the 3rd house) of Vishnu! Similarly, Brahma, who is born from the navel (6th house) of Vishnu should naturally find His end in the 12th house of Vishnu (feet), which is the 7th house of death from the 6th house! That may be why Vishnu goes to sleep, when there is a change of Brahma.

Thus, the instinct within us to keep accumulating material objects like honey bees accumulate honey finds its end in the dharma of the sattwa guna, i.e. when the sattwa guna within us follows its dharma. Then we are fully awake spiritually. Naturally, the path to self-knowledge becomes open then and Brahma becomes elated.

Thus, the story of Madhu-Kaitabha refers, allegorically, to the instinct most of us have towards leading a "regular" life, working hard like honeybees and accumulating objects for self and others and how that instinct needs to be defeated by waking up the sattwa guna and allowing to perform its dharma.

* * *

Lest I am misunderstood, I need to clarify one thing. I am not saying that these stories are not real. These stories ARE very much real. In fact, when a Yogi is able to transport consciousness to a particular plane, He/She can vividly see these stories actually happening. The stories are as real as our own existence as beings made of flesh and blood is, in the normal plane of consciousness.

What I am saying is that there is an allegorical link between various planes of consciousness. What is real in one plane of consciousness is an allegory in another plane of consciousness. If one is atleast capable of understanding a story as an allegory, that will serve a valuable purpose!

If you did not understand my last point, please feel free to ignore it. It is not that important.

* * *

The Shata Chandi Homam we did in Chennai during March 1-7 was for a specific goal - relief for a spiritual master of south India from unfortunate legal troubles. Interestingly, after exactly 64 days passed since the poornaahuti of that homam, some political events happened in Chennai, which MAY bring some relief. We'll see.

We intend to do more Shata Chandi homas, this time without any specific goal but just for universal well-being, in the coming years. If She is willing, we may perhaps do the next Shata Chandi homam in the Pune area in 2007 or 2008. If any of you practice reading Durga Saptashati, you can volunteer and help us the next time. In a Shata Chandi homam, Durga Saptashati is to be recited 100 times. If you can read it well, you can come there and contribute towards the count of 100. If interested, please start practicing the recital of Durga Saptashati.

I heard Durga saptashati for the time in this life in October 2005 and read it for the first time on the morning of March 3, 2006. Still I ended up contributing 15 or so readings to the Shata Chandi homam. If some of you practice from now, you should easily be able to read a few times at the next Shata Chandi homam! If there are enough reciters, who knows, we may even be able to do a Sahasra Chandi Homam soon!

Please spread Durga Saptashati reading among people you know.

May the light of Brahman shine within,

Narasimha

-------------------------------

Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net

Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org

Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

-------------------------------

May 29, 2006

Dear Shri. Narasimha RAo:

Already Pandit. R.DAKSHINAMOORTHI is doing recital of Durga Sapta

Sathi (Devi Mahatmyam) regularly for the welfare of the world. In

fact, Guruji says that it is the panacea for all troubles in the

society. Whenever there is danger through fire, terrorism, diseases,

or any adverse planetary influence, Chandi Paath is the best remedy

for that in Guruji's opinion.

As to the power of the recital, those who have had the previlege to

listen to guruji's chanting of the verses will know that the very

atmosphere in the place of chanting changes as Guruji chants the

verses, and by the end of the recital the place itself will seem to

vibrate with a strange power! I have had the rare previlege to

experience that first hand. He has been doing it for the past many

years now.

Those in Chennai, can request the chant to be done by Guruji by

visiting his place and experience what I am saying for themselves

personally. The experience (the visions that we can get, the abrupt

change in the atmosphere when the chant progresses, etc.) is to be

savoured to be believed!

Best regards,

Mohanraaam.

vedic astrology, "Narasimha P.V.R. Rao" <pvr@.

...> wrote:

>

> Namaste learned friends,

>

> Someone queried a while back on the meaning behind the story of

Madhu Kaitabha. Here is a quick reply based on my limited

understanding.

>

> * * *

>

> Madhu means honey. "Madhu keeta" means an insect of honey, i.e.

honey bee. Madhu kaita means belonging to honey bees. It can be the

qualities or nature of honey bees. One of the meanings of "bha" is

"having a similarity to". Thus, in my judgment, "Madhu Kaitabha" means

"having a semblance to the nature of honey bees".

>

> * * *

>

> Like I keep saying, Sanskrit is a fantastic language. Sanskrit names

selected by Rishis for expressing various concepts and stories are

very thoughtful. Depending on how deep one goes, there are many

meanings of the same word. Thus, Rishis expressed concepts that may

have one meaning to a layman and a different meaning to one who is

ready to understand the deeper meaning! I salute to the wisdom of our

Rishis!

>

> I was saying the same thing at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam last weekend.

When somebody said at an open discussion that the idea is important

and not the name, as there are many names of the same thing in many

languages, I made a quick point about the value of Sanskrit names. I

said that Sanskrit names have not one meaning, but layers of meanings

that can be understood based on the capability of the reader. Rishis

used this to hide some special meanings and to keep some higher

knowledge as secret, even though it is very much out there! The

example I gave was of bhava and pada. Parasara described bhavas

(houses) and how to find their respective padas (arudha padas of

houses) and said that a bhava and its pada should be judged to see the

matters of a house. Though he did not explain the difference between a

bhava and its pada further and did not elucidate when to use which

one, I said that the very choice of names is a huge clue! Bhava, which

is usually translated as a house, also means "a thought/concept/

feeling" and pada means "a symbol/word" used to express a thought/

concept. Thus, houses are to their arudha padas what thoughts (bhavas)

are to the words (padas) that attempt to express them. For example, if

the 4th house shows one's happiness, the pada of 4th house shows the

tangible articles that attempt to throw light on one's happiness (e.g.

vehicle owned by one, TV owned by one etc). Houses (bhavas) show

intangible/internal aspects of a matter (just like thoughts inside

one's head), while their arudha padas show tangible/external aspects

of a matter (just like the external words spoken that attempt to

express the thoughts in the head). If you use the English words to

translate Parasara, this hidden meaning may be lost! So, I argued that

Sanskrit names used by Rishis are not like words in any language.

>

> * * *

>

> Anyway, let us come back to the Madhu Kaitabha story. As I said,

Madhu Kaitabha means "having a semblance to the quality of honeybees".

What is the quality of honey bees? Well, they keep working hard to

accumulate the sweet honey! They are not intelligent enough to think

about any higher things in life. Thus, Madhu Kaitabha are an allegory

to the quality within us which makes us work hard, like honeybees,

with a single-minded focus on accumulating material comforts. Like

honeybees accumulate honey, we accumulate material objects and spend

whole life working hard doing just that.

>

> Vishnu is a personification of the sattwa guna of the Parama Purusha

(Universal/Absolute Being). Within us, Vishnu is an allegory to the

sattwa guna within us. Madhu Kaitabha were born from Vishnu's earwax

when He was alseep. The ability to work hard like a bee is not really

a terrible thing. This ability is essentially born from the sattwa

guna within us, when it is in deep slumber (i.e. sattwa guna covered

by taamasi shakti, i.e. sattwa guna that "manifests" in a taamasik

way).

>

> There are so many good people in this world, who just spend their

entire lives in honest labor like the honeybees and accumulate things

for themselves and others around them. Their sattwa is in deep sleep

and Madhu Kaitabha born from that asleep sattva are very much active.

>

> The problem with this focus on hard work and accumulation of

material objects is that it keeps us away from supreme bliss. Madhu

Kaitabha's attack on Brahma and Vedas is symbolic of that. Vedas

symbolize the supreme and liberating knowledge of self and Brahma, the

carrier of Vedas, symbolizes the sadhana to achieve the supreme

knowledge. The focus on working like honeybees and accumulating

material objects tries to kills one's ability to do sadhana and obtain

supreme knowledge of self.

>

> Vishnu battles Madhu Kaitabha for 5,000 years. Devi Bhagavatam even

describes that Vishnu wondered in the middle how to defeat Madhu

Kaitabha, as He finds them quite formidable! Even when the sattva in

us awakens, it is difficult for it to overcome the formidable instinct

to lead the life of a honeybee and to accumulate the material objects

for oneself and others.

>

> When Madhu Kaitabha finally agree to be slain by Vishnu, they ask

Him to kill them in a place where there is no water. They see that

there is water all around and think that there is no place where there

is no water. The Mooladhara, Swadhishthana, Manipoora, Anahata and

Visuddhi chakras are the seats of earthy, watery, fiery, airy and

ethery elements respectively. Swadhishthana chakra is supposed to

control desires and hence water symbolizes desire. As long as there is

desire, it is tough to overcome the instinct of just working for

material objects!

>

> When they want a place that has no water, Vishnu shows his thighs.

There is no water there and only earthy element. This suggests that

Parama Purusha's Mooladhara chakra is in the thighs of Vishu. (Note:

If Chandra Hari is reading this, he will probably realize that this

point supports his view on Mooladhara! But I will not say anything

more on it for now, as it is a totally different topic. But I do want

to acknowledge that this supports his view.)

>

> According to Parasara, thighs are seen from the 9th house of dharma.

The earthy element symbolizes the commitment and stability. The fact

that earthy element came from the thighs of Vishnu shows that it is

the dharma of sattwa guna sustaining this universe that ensures that

there is commitment and stability in this creation.

>

> Moreover, it is apt that someone born in the ears (3rd house) of

Vishnu found end in the thighs (9th house, i.e. 7th house of death

from the 3rd house) of Vishnu! Similarly, Brahma, who is born from the

navel (6th house) of Vishnu should naturally find His end in the 12th

house of Vishnu (feet), which is the 7th house of death from the 6th

house! That may be why Vishnu goes to sleep, when there is a change of

Brahma.

>

> Thus, the instinct within us to keep accumulating material objects

like honey bees accumulate honey finds its end in the dharma of the

sattwa guna, i.e. when the sattwa guna within us follows its dharma.

Then we are fully awake spiritually. Naturally, the path to self-

knowledge becomes open then and Brahma becomes elated.

>

> Thus, the story of Madhu-Kaitabha refers, allegorically, to the

instinct most of us have towards leading a "regular" life, working

hard like honeybees and accumulating objects for self and others and

how that instinct needs to be defeated by waking up the sattwa guna

and allowing to perform its dharma.

>

> * * *

>

> Lest I am misunderstood, I need to clarify one thing. I am not

saying that these stories are not real. These stories ARE very much

real. In fact, when a Yogi is able to transport consciousness to a

particular plane, He/She can vividly see these stories actually

happening. The stories are as real as our own existence as beings made

of flesh and blood is, in the normal plane of consciousness.

>

> What I am saying is that there is an allegorical link between

various planes of consciousness. What is real in one plane of

consciousness is an allegory in another plane of consciousness. If one

is atleast capable of understanding a story as an allegory, that will

serve a valuable purpose!

>

> If you did not understand my last point, please feel free to ignore

it. It is not that important.

>

> * * *

>

> The Shata Chandi Homam we did in Chennai during March 1-7 was for a

specific goal - relief for a spiritual master of south India from

unfortunate legal troubles. Interestingly, after exactly 64 days

passed since the poornaahuti of that homam, some political events

happened in Chennai, which MAY bring some relief. We'll see.

>

> We intend to do more Shata Chandi homas, this time without any

specific goal but just for universal well-being, in the coming years.

If She is willing, we may perhaps do the next Shata Chandi homam in

the Pune area in 2007 or 2008. If any of you practice reading Durga

Saptashati, you can volunteer and help us the next time. In a Shata

Chandi homam, Durga Saptashati is to be recited 100 times. If you can

read it well, you can come there and contribute towards the count of

100. If interested, please start practicing the recital of Durga

Saptashati.

>

> I heard Durga saptashati for the time in this life in October 2005

and read it for the first time on the morning of March 3, 2006. Still

I ended up contributing 15 or so readings to the Shata Chandi homam.

If some of you practice from now, you should easily be able to read a

few times at the next Shata Chandi homam! If there are enough

reciters, who knows, we may even be able to do a Sahasra Chandi Homam

soon!

>

> Please spread Durga Saptashati reading among people you know.

>

> May the light of Brahman shine within,

> Narasimha

> -------------------------------

> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net

> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org

> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

> -------------------------------

>

May 29, 2006

Dear Rao,

The legends of yore, the scriptures like Bhagavad gita and even Vedas

multilevel meanings. "that is so, since you understand so" is the

dictum though really one should go from here to the unknown to

understand the real crux of the concepts.

For eg, the story of Lord slaining the madhu kaitabhas can be

enjoyed just a heroic story, a myth, at the lowest level and can be

seen as an allegory with the deepest spiritual meanings at the

highest level.

In between, I appreciate your way of looking for astrological

meanings in the same. I dont know whether this has been attempted

earlier.

Madhu represents the tamasa guna born from ones passive energy. The

ear represents sabda, sabda represents the akasha- the highest

element that represents the supreme Lord. Ear wax is the obstacle to

one's supreme reality. It is the dust that envelopes the sabbda and

it is nothing but Maya which envelopes the supreme soul. This

happens due to vishaya vasanas.

Mah represents mind and the syllable Adha repesents After. ie you

are going after mind rather than after buddhi. You are doing

whatever your monkey mind is telling you to do.

Kaitabha represents the basic instincts of an insect, that aspect

which has no learning possible and which has no discretion. The duo

which was born of maya takes away one's ability to learn and

progress because one is not after dhi (intellect) but after mind.

(mah)

The one who is led by his intellect is called dhira and Bhagawad

gita in one stroke calls one a dhira if he is not touched by the

duality. The same concept, using the same word dhira is expalined at

length in kathopanishad. when one can kill duality? Only if he is

not led by mind (or vice versa) Which ever way you see it, it is

important that you should have control over your mind, which

basically represents the maya. Vishnu is called Madhava because he

has killed Madhu, ie he has control over the maya. Incidentally,

this name also means he is Lord of 'Ma', the mother nature, which is

again Maya. Here, Ma as mother represents the Vidya maya- the

knowledgeable maya ( that we are in- we know lots of dictums, all

the stories of Lord, the four maha vakyas and good amount of

upanishads blah blah yet, we are bonded to our feelings and vishaya

vasanas and weaknesses) whereas madhu represents the avidya maya,

the crux of ajnana, which in fact further kills the discretion as

well as whatever you have learnt earlier. But be ware, the one in

avidya maya goes to hell but one who is stuck with vidya maya will

go to a deeper hell!!

So, coming back to Madhu, he along with kaitabha represents the

mooladhara. this is above the anus. To kill the animal instincts,

one should be beyond water- ie one should have opened the

swadhistana also and should have gone much beyond that. Only then

one is capable of being called Madhava- or who has a solid control

over his mind.

This is the deeper meaning of the story, as seen through the Yoga

sastra.

Kishore patnaik

vedic astrology, "Narasimha P.V.R. Rao"

<pvr wrote:

>

> Namaste learned friends,

>

> Someone queried a while back on the meaning behind the story of

Madhu Kaitabha. Here is a quick reply based on my limited

understanding.

>

> * * *

>

> Madhu means honey. "Madhu keeta" means an insect of honey, i.e.

honey bee. Madhu kaita means belonging to honey bees. It can be the

qualities or nature of honey bees. One of the meanings of "bha"

is "having a similarity to". Thus, in my judgment, "Madhu Kaitabha"

means "having a semblance to the nature of honey bees".

>

> * * *

>

> Like I keep saying, Sanskrit is a fantastic language. Sanskrit

names selected by Rishis for expressing various concepts and stories

are very thoughtful. Depending on how deep one goes, there are many

meanings of the same word. Thus, Rishis expressed concepts that may

have one meaning to a layman and a different meaning to one who is

ready to understand the deeper meaning! I salute to the wisdom of

our Rishis!

>

> I was saying the same thing at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam last weekend.

When somebody said at an open discussion that the idea is important

and not the name, as there are many names of the same thing in many

languages, I made a quick point about the value of Sanskrit names. I

said that Sanskrit names have not one meaning, but layers of

meanings that can be understood based on the capability of the

reader. Rishis used this to hide some special meanings and to keep

some higher knowledge as secret, even though it is very much out

there! The example I gave was of bhava and pada. Parasara described

bhavas (houses) and how to find their respective padas (arudha padas

of houses) and said that a bhava and its pada should be judged to

see the matters of a house. Though he did not explain the difference

between a bhava and its pada further and did not elucidate when to

use which one, I said that the very choice of names is a huge clue!

Bhava, which is usually translated as a house, also means "a

thought/concept/feeling" and pada means "a symbol/word" used to

express a thought/concept. Thus, houses are to their arudha padas

what thoughts (bhavas) are to the words (padas) that attempt to

express them. For example, if the 4th house shows one's happiness,

the pada of 4th house shows the tangible articles that attempt to

throw light on one's happiness (e.g. vehicle owned by one, TV owned

by one etc). Houses (bhavas) show intangible/internal aspects of a

matter (just like thoughts inside one's head), while their arudha

padas show tangible/external aspects of a matter (just like the

external words spoken that attempt to express the thoughts in the

head). If you use the English words to translate Parasara, this

hidden meaning may be lost! So, I argued that Sanskrit names used by

Rishis are not like words in any language.

>

> * * *

>

> Anyway, let us come back to the Madhu Kaitabha story. As I said,

Madhu Kaitabha means "having a semblance to the quality of

honeybees". What is the quality of honey bees? Well, they keep

working hard to accumulate the sweet honey! They are not intelligent

enough to think about any higher things in life. Thus, Madhu

Kaitabha are an allegory to the quality within us which makes us

work hard, like honeybees, with a single-minded focus on

accumulating material comforts. Like honeybees accumulate honey, we

accumulate material objects and spend whole life working hard doing

just that.

>

> Vishnu is a personification of the sattwa guna of the Parama

Purusha (Universal/Absolute Being). Within us, Vishnu is an allegory

to the sattwa guna within us. Madhu Kaitabha were born from Vishnu's

earwax when He was alseep. The ability to work hard like a bee is

not really a terrible thing. This ability is essentially born from

the sattwa guna within us, when it is in deep slumber (i.e. sattwa

guna covered by taamasi shakti, i.e. sattwa guna that "manifests" in

a taamasik way).

>

> There are so many good people in this world, who just spend their

entire lives in honest labor like the honeybees and accumulate

things for themselves and others around them. Their sattwa is in

deep sleep and Madhu Kaitabha born from that asleep sattva are very

much active.

>

> The problem with this focus on hard work and accumulation of

material objects is that it keeps us away from supreme bliss. Madhu

Kaitabha's attack on Brahma and Vedas is symbolic of that. Vedas

symbolize the supreme and liberating knowledge of self and Brahma,

the carrier of Vedas, symbolizes the sadhana to achieve the supreme

knowledge. The focus on working like honeybees and accumulating

material objects tries to kills one's ability to do sadhana and

obtain supreme knowledge of self.

>

> Vishnu battles Madhu Kaitabha for 5,000 years. Devi Bhagavatam

even describes that Vishnu wondered in the middle how to defeat

Madhu Kaitabha, as He finds them quite formidable! Even when the

sattva in us awakens, it is difficult for it to overcome the

formidable instinct to lead the life of a honeybee and to accumulate

the material objects for oneself and others.

>

> When Madhu Kaitabha finally agree to be slain by Vishnu, they ask

Him to kill them in a place where there is no water. They see that

there is water all around and think that there is no place where

there is no water. The Mooladhara, Swadhishthana, Manipoora, Anahata

and Visuddhi chakras are the seats of earthy, watery, fiery, airy

and ethery elements respectively. Swadhishthana chakra is supposed

to control desires and hence water symbolizes desire. As long as

there is desire, it is tough to overcome the instinct of just

working for material objects!

>

> When they want a place that has no water, Vishnu shows his thighs.

There is no water there and only earthy element. This suggests that

Parama Purusha's Mooladhara chakra is in the thighs of Vishu. (Note:

If Chandra Hari is reading this, he will probably realize that this

point supports his view on Mooladhara! But I will not say anything

more on it for now, as it is a totally different topic. But I do

want to acknowledge that this supports his view.)

>

> According to Parasara, thighs are seen from the 9th house of

dharma. The earthy element symbolizes the commitment and stability.

The fact that earthy element came from the thighs of Vishnu shows

that it is the dharma of sattwa guna sustaining this universe that

ensures that there is commitment and stability in this creation.

>

> Moreover, it is apt that someone born in the ears (3rd house) of

Vishnu found end in the thighs (9th house, i.e. 7th house of death

from the 3rd house) of Vishnu! Similarly, Brahma, who is born from

the navel (6th house) of Vishnu should naturally find His end in the

12th house of Vishnu (feet), which is the 7th house of death from

the 6th house! That may be why Vishnu goes to sleep, when there is a

change of Brahma.

>

> Thus, the instinct within us to keep accumulating material objects

like honey bees accumulate honey finds its end in the dharma of the

sattwa guna, i.e. when the sattwa guna within us follows its dharma.

Then we are fully awake spiritually. Naturally, the path to self-

knowledge becomes open then and Brahma becomes elated.

>

> Thus, the story of Madhu-Kaitabha refers, allegorically, to the

instinct most of us have towards leading a "regular" life, working

hard like honeybees and accumulating objects for self and others and

how that instinct needs to be defeated by waking up the sattwa guna

and allowing to perform its dharma.

>

> * * *

>

> Lest I am misunderstood, I need to clarify one thing. I am not

saying that these stories are not real. These stories ARE very much

real. In fact, when a Yogi is able to transport consciousness to a

particular plane, He/She can vividly see these stories actually

happening. The stories are as real as our own existence as beings

made of flesh and blood is, in the normal plane of consciousness.

>

> What I am saying is that there is an allegorical link between

various planes of consciousness. What is real in one plane of

consciousness is an allegory in another plane of consciousness. If

one is atleast capable of understanding a story as an allegory, that

will serve a valuable purpose!

>

> If you did not understand my last point, please feel free to

ignore it. It is not that important.

>

> * * *

>

> The Shata Chandi Homam we did in Chennai during March 1-7 was for

a specific goal - relief for a spiritual master of south India from

unfortunate legal troubles. Interestingly, after exactly 64 days

passed since the poornaahuti of that homam, some political events

happened in Chennai, which MAY bring some relief. We'll see.

>

> We intend to do more Shata Chandi homas, this time without any

specific goal but just for universal well-being, in the coming

years. If She is willing, we may perhaps do the next Shata Chandi

homam in the Pune area in 2007 or 2008. If any of you practice

reading Durga Saptashati, you can volunteer and help us the next

time. In a Shata Chandi homam, Durga Saptashati is to be recited 100

times. If you can read it well, you can come there and contribute

towards the count of 100. If interested, please start practicing the

recital of Durga Saptashati.

>

> I heard Durga saptashati for the time in this life in October 2005

and read it for the first time on the morning of March 3, 2006.

Still I ended up contributing 15 or so readings to the Shata Chandi

homam. If some of you practice from now, you should easily be able

to read a few times at the next Shata Chandi homam! If there are

enough reciters, who knows, we may even be able to do a Sahasra

Chandi Homam soon!

>

> Please spread Durga Saptashati reading among people you know.

>

> May the light of Brahman shine within,

> Narasimha

> -------------------------------

> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net

> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org

> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

> -------------------------------

>

May 29, 2006

Dear Narsimhaji,

Pranam!

That was truly a very beautiful and inspiring story. Shall be

grateful if u could continue to tell us such stories.

U will have to pardon my ignorance if i ask what is Durga

Saptashati, how can it be obtained and understood?

Many thanks!

Vinita