Fw: Chandipath stories: A different perspective

[Guest guest]

Namaste friends,

 

Welcome to the newly formed group. For astrologers among you, the muhurta when the group is formed is:

 

2006 November 7

2:31:22 pm (EST)

South Grafton, MA, USA

 

The muhurta for the first post (this one) is:

 

2006 November 7

3:02 pm (EST)

South Grafton, MA, USA

 

I am sending an old mail I sent to some friends a while back, for your reading pleasure.

 

May the light of Brahman shine within,

Narasimha

 

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Namaste,

 

Some of you guys were discussing Raktabeeja story after the homam. I am sending excerpts from a few mails I sent sometime back to our astrology . They give a different perspective on Raktabeeja story and Madhukaitabha story. The purpose of these mails was to provoke thinking in those who were ready. This mail is a little long and read it at leisure.

 

Best regards,

Narasimha

 

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Some people mistakenly think that Chandi Saptashati is merely an account of the exploits of Durgaa and her slaying of demons Mahisha, Chanda, Munda, Raktabeeja, Shumbha, Nishumbha etc. They view it as a collection of stories. But, IMHO, that is a very limited view. Devi mahatmyam is much more than a collection of stories. After all, Vedas are its swaroopam! Rigveda, Yajurveda and Saamaveda are the swaroopam (form/essence/a different manifestation) of the three parts of Chandi Saptashati. The purpose of Vedas is self-knowledge. How can something with Vedas as its swaroopam be about something other than self-knowledge?

 

* * *

 

Though Devi Mahatmyam looks like stories, there are very valuable lessons on Her nature in it. The deeper you go, the more you can understand and appreciate the lessons in the stories. Let me give a couple of examples.

 

(1) When various Mothers are going to war with demons, this is how it is described (8-14): "Whatever form, decoration, weapons and vehicle each god has, his shakti (energy) came in the same form, decoration, weapons and vehicle." The next 9 verses describe how Brahmaani etc came. For example, Brahmaani came on a swan with aksha sutra and kamandalu (worn by Brahma), Maaheswari came on a great bull with a Trishoola and She wore a big snake and Moon. And so on.

 

What is the message hidden in the above description? The normal imagery painted elsewhere is of female deities with a separate form. Here, they are depicted differently.

 

The fact that these female deities are identical to the male counterparts in form, decoration, weapons and vehicles suggests, to me, that they are not really separate from the male counterparts. Brahma and Brahmaani are not separate. Maheswara and Maaheswari are not separate. Vishnu and Vaishnavi are not separate. And so on. Brahmaani is simply the shakti (vitality/energy) of Brahma. Maaheswari is simply the shakti (vitality/energy) of Maheswara. And so on.

 

If Vaishnavi went on Garuda vehicle and killed a demon, it actually means that Vishnu went on a Garuda vehicle and killed the demon. Vaishanvi is the personification of Vishnu's energy, which makes Vishnu be, think, desire, move and act. Vaishnavi is not separate from Vishnu.

 

Of course, if you imagine Vaishnavi (Lakshmi) as a separate person with certain attributes, She may manifest limited by your imagination and even give you a darshan in that form. However, that is a limited form and Her true nature is beyond that. Her true and highest nature is that She is an inseparable part of Vishnu and represents the energy of Vishnu. She is the part of Vishnu that makes Vishnu think, desire, act etc. Vaishnavi is basically Chetana (animated consciousness) of Vishnu.

 

Thus, contemplation on these verses will make you understand the true nature of male devatas and female devatas and their relationship better. It will enable you to appreciate the highest nature of Shakti.

 

Puranas personify everything to make things interesting and understandable by laymen. However, it is more fun to explore the deeper meanings.

 

(2) Take Raktabeeja's slaying. Raktabeeja is a demon with a special ability. If a drop of blood falls from his body on the ground, another demon will be born from it and will be of the same size, age and strength as the original Raktabeeja even at birth. As Vaishnavi, Maaheswari, Aindri etc were hurting Raktabeeja in the fight, more and more demons were being born and all the gods were scared. Then Chandikaa told Kaali to expand her face and eat all the demons as they are born. Chandika goes around the war ground eating all the demons as they are born and eventually Raktabeeja runs out of blood.

 

This looks like a nice story. But, is there is a deeper meaning in it that helps you in self-realization? Why was Kaali the chosen one and not Vaishnavi or Naarasimhi or Aindri?

 

The word rakta means blood. Another meaning is "desire/passion". The word comes from the root ranj/rang, which means "to color". Desire/passion/attachment colors and conditions the mind. Beeja means seed.

 

Raktabeeja means "the seed of desire". Raktabeeja fighting with gods symbolizes desires taking the better of our good judgment and good qualities. Each human being is a microcosm of the macrocosm that the universe is. All devatas reside in us as various good qualities and all demons reside in us as various undesirable qualities. When we are overcome by desires and do bad deeds, the Raktabeeja within us is defeating the gods within us.

 

The thing is that desires are difficult to get rid of. You get rid of one desire and another desire is born. That is what Raktabeeja's special ability means. The "seed of desires" (i.e. basic attachment that is the nature of mind) within us will keep producing more and more desires. It is very resourceful.

 

Then, why Kaali to destroy Him?

 

In astrology, we associate Mahaakaala and Mahaakaali with Saturn. Kaali shows detachment and vairaagyam. She wears a garland of skulls, symbolizing that there is an endless cycle (garland) of births a material form (skull) goes thru. The way Kaali shows to overcome the cycle is vairaagyam and detachment. She shows meaningful and highest level of vairaagyam that comes with a deep understanding of the cycle of material forms.

 

To fully cut off the "seed of desires" so that one does not get any more desires, one needs to develop vairaagyam and detachment and keep on destroying desires as they are born and persist like that. After persisting for a long time, the "seed of desires" will run out of desires and the basic attachment of mind will vanish.

 

Thus, simple stories have deep meanings. This particular story celebrates the value of detachment, vairaagyam and persistence - Saturnine qualities.

 

* * *

 

Merely chanting Chandi saptashati without understanding the meaning is also excellent and produces results. Understanding the meaning and marvelling at the power of the Mother makes one fearless and energetic and also give material benefits. Understanding the deeper meanings and appreciating the True Nature of the Mother makes one realize one's own true nature. It has various benefits at various levels of sadhana. It is tough to exactly say what benefit it gives, as that depends on the evolution level of sadhaka and his attitude. But, there is something in Chandipath for everyone!

 

However, the highest purpose is self-knowledge and that is why Vedas are its swaroopam.

 

* * *

 

 

Towards the end, the 11th chapter (titled "Naaraayani Stuti") describes gods praying to the Divine Mother after slaying all the demons. They address Her as "Naaraayani". Trimurthis symbolize the purest aspects of the three gunas. Vishnu is one of them. He is of Sattva guna and sustains the creation. However, Narayana is different. He is not Vishnu (contrast Narayana sooktam with Vishnu sooktam!). He is gunaateeta (above gunas/attributes). He is the Sahasraseersha and Parama Purusha (Supreme Cosmic Being). Some people may validly describe the same as Samba Sada Shiva also, but let us not argue about names. When we are essentially speaking about an entity that is beyond attributes, it is foolish to argue about the name. After all, name too is an attribute that intends to describe other attributes! Though great people gave different names to Parama Purusha, the names essentially capture the nature of the *path* those people took to experience the Parama Purusha rather than the nature of Parama Purusha, which is beyond names and attributes.

 

The bottomline is that there is a Parama Purusha above the Trimurthis (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). IF we call him Narayana, then Narayani is His energy and She is the root cause of all manifested creation.

 

Saptashati is about Narayani. It is about the inseparable root energy of the Supreme Cosmic Being who is the source of this entire universe. A small part of that root energy lies within us too. Because I said "small part", don't think it is small. Even a small percentage of infinity is still infinity. Though each of us is a microcosm of the macrocosm that the entire universe is, each of us is a complete and accurate replica of the entire universe. Think "poornamadah poornamidam" in Vedic spirit! The purpose of all spiritual sadhana is realizing the true nature of self. Chandipath can also be viewed from that perspective.

 

 

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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 from vehicles, the pada of 4th house shows the tangible articles that attempt to throw light on one's happiness from vehicles (e.g. the physical vehicle owned by one). 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.

 

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/sleep), 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.

 

Anyway, 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 it 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 (Kundalini) to a particular plane (chakra), 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!

 

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<A discussion on oneness and manyness of forms>

 

 

> Is vishnu there in the flower? The answer is yes> Is Vishnu there in the tree? The answer is yes

That's all fine. But a devotee of Kaali like Ramakrishna will eventually reach the stage where he sees Kaali in flowers, trees etc (just as you may aspire to see Vishnu in everything). A great devotee of Shiva will eventually see Shiva in everything.

 

It is possible to devote to several deities and eventually start seeing the deity in everything that exists. It is not correct that only Vishnu's form has the characteristic you explained above.

 

In order to explain this more clearly, let me go back to the analogy I gave earlier. This fantastic analogy is from my spiritual guru.

-------------- Quote Begin --------------

 

Imagine God to be a bright star in the sky. When you see from a distance, star seems tiny and you conclude that there is only one God. If you start moving towards God, you realize as you get closer that the star is in reality a huge diamond with 330 million faces. Each face is several miles long and wide and has various attributes (gunas). One face may be red and hot and another may be blue and cold etc. So, as you get closer to the diamond, you have to pick one face to get close to.

 

Now, when you get too close to a face, the whole world will seem to have the attributes of that face. For example, if you get too close to a face that is cold and blue, then the whole world will feel cold and blue to you. In other words, the God you are getting close to is the Supreme god of the world and fills the entire world as you experience it.

 

This is the ultimate goal in sadhana for one adhering to Dwaita siddhanta (duality). For them, getting close to ishta devata and securing a place near the feet is the highest goal. Everything else is immaterial to them.

 

For some, there is a next stage: As you get closer and closer to the face you picked, you finally merge with it! This is the ultimate goal in sadhana for one adhering to Visishtaadwaita.

 

To Advaitis, this communion with a Saguna ("with attributes") form of God is not the final goal. The final goal is to break through the face and jump into the inside of the diamond. As you break through the face of the diamond into which you merge and jump into the interior of the diamond, you no longer perceive the faces of the diamond or the world outside. There are no longer any objects or attributes. The experiencer, experienced and experience all merge into one.

 

This state can be achieved by first merging into any face (Vishnu, Shiva, Mahalakshmi, Mahakali etc).

 

-------------- Quote End --------------

 

Read the above analogy carefully. Imagine Vishnu, Shiva etc to be faces of the diamond in the above analogy. If you get too close to Vishnu, you will indeed see Vishnu in everything and you 'realize' that Vishnu is the supreme god of this universe and fills everything that exists. You see Vishnu in even Shiva. Similarly, if you get too close to Shiva, you will indeed see Shiva in everything and you 'realize' that Shiva is the supreme god of this universe and fills everything that exists. You see Shiva in even Vishnu. The same applies to Sun, Ganesha and so many other deities.

 

It is as simple as that.

 

But then, one may ask what is the importance of picking ishta devata based on chart. If it is possible to see Vishnu in Shiva or Shiva in Vishnu, what is the big deal in choosing a deity? Why can't one pray to a random deity?

 

The answer is that the stage of perceiving the ishta devata in all gods and everything that exists has not been reached by most people. Our ishta devata prescriptions are for people who are yet to reach that stage. In terms of my analogy, the journey to different faces of the diamond takes different times based on where you stand right now. If you pick a face that is closest to you based on where you are, you reach the diamond faster. For example, if you choose a face on the other side, it will take considerably longer to reach it. On the contrary, if you select a face that is closest to you, you reach it faster.

 

Similarly, if you choose a form (face of the diamond of divinity) that is closest to you based on where you stand in karmic evolution (i.e. based on all previous karmas and samskaras), you reach god faster. Once you reach the chosen face and get too close to it, you will see that deity in the entire universe. Someone with different samskaras may choose a different deity and reach a different face and that person will see that deity in the entire universe. There is no contradiction here!

 

Thus, while trying to surrender to a random deity may eventually work, surrendering to some specific deities may work faster based on your previous karmas. That is what astrologers should try to figure out. Instead of setting one on a different course, if we help one continue the course one was on already (from various lives), we would have done a good thing!

 

Thus, my humble appeal is this: Let us not restrict to one deity (e.g. Vishnu and His avataras) based on OUR OWN samskaras. Let us recommend all deities based on the native's inclination, samskaras and karmas.

 

I hope my view on not prescribing only Vishnu's avataras as ishta devatas is better understood after this detailed mail!

 

 

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