TOTAL EMANCIPATION (Jivanmuktata)

  The living beings (jiva rashi) seem to be the end products of the processing mill where the  raw materials are the five basic elements, the qualities of nature found in combination of the three gunas- sattva, rajas, and tamas, and a number of other factors, such as, the inner instruments (antahkarana) like the mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), ego (ahankara).  desires and aspirations, and so on. The jiva gets so entangled in the mire that it gets lost in wilderness! Suddenly, one day, a jiva here and a jiva there, realizes the mistake of the embodiment and its consequences and craves for release! This craving is so feeble as the inner voice of the soul (Atman) that the jiva does not hear it in its hussle buzzle of daily life. However, it hears this inner voice of intent desire and craving for total emancipation when it sits calm and quite after a long journey! Thus the process of return journey starts and the jiva seeks a guide to help him/her. When the jiva cries intently for this redemption, the supreme Lord may take pity and send a guru. There is no alternative but to seek a guide here, and the easiest way o find one is the supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself in the Gita!      

   The living being (jiva) craves for total emancipation (moksha). 'Gajendra moksha' episode is an example. The crocodile is holding the leg of the elephant king, Gajendra. The elephant appeals to the Lord for liberation from the clutches of the crocodile. The croc. is the symbol of worldly mundane existence here! The Jivatman exemplified by the Elephant-king seeks redemption! Lord Vishnu comes to the rescue of Gajendra here. It is absolutely essential that the jivatman craves for redemption. Otherwise, the question of redemption  does not arise! 

    There are different types of liberation, redemption, emancipation, mukti or moksha. The jiva gets relieved of its mortal existence when the body deteriorates and is cast away. This is not total emancipation since the jiva looks for another suitable body to fulfill its unfinished jobs and desires. It may take any form of living beings to suit its requirement and  thus again runs the mill. It craves for total emancipation only when it is tired of repeated embodiments. However, it is not assured of that!

     There is another type of redemption. Here the jivatman wants to prolong its journey on this living planet, Earth, but does not want any sufferings! The supreme Lord is so gracious that He blesses the jiva with whatever its wish it craves for. Thus, there are great sages who enjoy princely life untouched by the blemishes and sufferings of worldly existence. This is Raja Yoga. We have examples of persons living in palatial buildings attended by devotees! some of them go to remote forest and hill-sides and get what all they need without effort. This is really astonishing! But this also is not total emancipation.

     The real emancipation comes only when the jiva asks for mukti or moksha of the highest type. Here the jiva surrenders to the supreme Lord, totally abdicating his/her self! There is no desire or craving for fulfillment here. The jiva takes the advise as stated in the Gita and surrenders! The Lord asks the jiva to join Him, merge his ego and all that he/she possess in Him. He says, "manmana madbhava madhyaji namaskuru || He says maam upetya sarva papebhyo mokshayishyami .. ma shuchaa | He even assures punar janma na vidyate | Thus, the jiva is redeemed and total emancipation ensues!   

     The most interesting point of this 'total emancipation' is that "It is experienced by the jiva while it is still engaged in the worldly existence, not after death, discarding the body it inherited! Such a person is called jivanmukta, the most blessed guy, Indeed!

TraiguNya viShaya

 TraiguNya viShayaavEda nistraiguNyObhavaarjunaa | [Gita Ch.2. Verse 45]

   There are Veda mantra that are meant for invoking Gods like Agni, Rudra, Varuna, Maruta and others to protect us and fulfill our wishes. We conduct yajnya, yaga to propitiate Gods and request them to grant us wealth, children cows, servants, and the like. These wishes are fulfilled and we live a sensuous life and we forget the larger more important purpose of life.  Hence, the Lord asks us, through Arjuna, to give up these worldly aspirations. He even asks us to take to nirasakti yoga, not to aspire for anything that lasts for only short time. The jiva must strive for eternality, immortality? Hence the advise nistraigunyobhava.

  The Veda is said to be 'knowledge' concerning the three aspects of nature- prakRuti guNaih. It is the combination of Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva. These qualities of nature decide the nature of our existence. These imbalance in the three qualities create dominant characters that we see in this world. Bhagavan Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to be bereft of the three gunas, conquer the qualities of nature, and become a yogi, This is the most beautiful advise given by the supreme Lord for all mortals to attain to the highest seat, param padam. One should overcome these three powerful qualities of nature and this includes, not surprisingly(?), the sattva guna, as well! To be good is not enough! All the dualities are created by the qualities of nature and, as such, one has to overcome these completely. In fact, by doing good, one may acquire the good fruits of action (punya phala) and the jiva has to take birth again to experience or enjoy this! But this is not emancipation, liberation from the cycle of repeated  births and deaths. The purpose  is to break the shackle, the chain. Hence the Veda will not help; at best, the veda will get good fruits of action. The jiva should strive for total emancipation.   

Ganapati bappa Moraya

    It is traditional, rather, customary to say Ganapati bappa Moraya while bringing Ganapati to our homes and add come again next year (in Marathi) while sending Him off. Many wonder why Moraya is used here along with Ganapati bappa. Gana mean elements that include us, pati means the Lord and Moraya by Ganapati is the name of Moraya Gosvami of Chinchwad near Pune. He was n ardent devotee of the Lord. He prayed  that his name be eternal and the Lord blessed him! Hence, his name is used here along with that of the Lord.

    Ganapati is the Vedic God. As the scriptures explain the creation, the first creation is the Deity of the elements. Ganapati is the first manifest aspect of Chaturmukha Brahma. His first brain-child is Atharvan, Ganapati. The other manifest aspects are Sanaka, Skanda, Sanatkumara, Sanatsujata, and Narada.All these are the pure sattva aspects, unblemished with Gunas (qualities). All these are names are associated with the scriptures (Samhita) named after them! They are embodiment of knowledge, jnyan and, as such, there was no creation further! Brahma was perplexed since his function stopped and there was nofurther creation. He looked to the supreme Lord for guidance and he was directed to create using the three gunas, sattva, rajas, and tamas. Thus appeared the great Sages or Rishivaryas,  Devi-Devata, and the animals including humans! Ganapati is the Lord of all these creation!

    However, one curious aspect of the face of many of the Devata, including the elephant face remain unanswered! For sure, we do not know. We have the Varaha (Boar), Gajanana (elephant), Hayavadana (Horse), Narasimha (Lion), Matsya (Fish), etc. In one sense, it may be presumed that each and every level of creation ends with a deification indicating that every creature can attain the highest state of pure consciousness Brahmn, and thus deified! But why half man and half animal face remains a question? The Sphinx statue in Egypt has the body of lion and the face is here in our Narasimha deva! Who transfixed this is a mystery! As reagards, Ganapati, the story goes that Shiva cut the original head and repented and soon ordered any face of the one sleeping with head northward? How far this story is authentic is not known!

     The scriptures state that Devi Parvati created Ganesh from Her body indicating that the child is creted from the Mother! Here, Mother Parvati is the daughter of the Himavan, the King of the Himalaya Region! Shiva was the King of Kailas who married the daughter of this King Himavanta! In the strict sense of the terms we are all creatures of the earth. symbolically represented by Himavanta, Shiva, and Parvati. In this sense of the term, we are all Ganapati in one way or the other. This is based on the principle of 'tattvamasi', (Thou art That) 

   Ganapati is the Lord of Basal plexus, muladhara prajnya. It is the basic level of existence governed by air, water, soil (food), fire and space. This is the 'Gravitation force' in the scientific form of explanation! This is the first to operate in the universe and everything is moving and working around this force!  

Gouri-Ganesha Festivities

     August is the month of festivities. After Sri Krishna janmashtami, we have the Gouri-Ganesh festvals when we invoke the Divine Mother and the Lord of the Elements to protect us. Gouri is the Shakti of Shiva. The Shiva Purana gives more details. It is very important to keep in mind the three different levels of understanding the writings available to us, such as, the ancient Indian history, mythology and the symbolism or the spiritual aspects involved in all these names. forms and functions. the absolute becomes concrete, the formless assumes form and inert becomes moving and sound comes out of silence. This is how the un-manifest becomes the manifest and the One absolute becomes many varied and diversified!

  Who is Shiva? As the scriptures reveal, Shiva is known as Shamkara, Sham Bho, Shivashankara, Mahadeva, Ishvara, Maheshvara and, each name has something more than what just it normally indicates. So also, Gouri; Gouri is Shive, Maheshvari, Ishvari, Devi Parvati, Parameshvari. This is the same as regards Ganesha, who has a hundred different names! Gajanana, Gana-adhipati, Ganapati, Vinayaka, etc.

   The ancient history of India dates back to One million years when the Himalayas had not appeared, as it appears now! Some geological evidence show that the Himalaya Mtn. has risen from the floor of the Sea of Tethys, the remnant of which is the Mediterranean Sea. This Sea separated the southern Landmass of Gondavana and the Northern Landmass called Pangaea. The erosional remnnants such as sand, silt and loams deposited in the Sea layer by layer developed and pushed up in layers of stratified rocks constitute the long stretch of Himalayas from Hindukush to Arunachal. It is said Shiva and Parvati  ruled the Kailas Mountain area 500 000 years ago! People called King as God and the tradition is still there.

   Gouri we worship today is the Devi who is eulogized in the Veda as the supreme Creatrix. (see Devi Sukta). The trinity- Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara are the trio who are entrusted with the task of creation, sustenance, and dissolution, respectively by the supreme Lord Sri Hari Narayana! Hence there should be no doubt as to whom we are worshiping today. It seems Brahma is not worshiped by all and the Brahma temples are rare! Pushkar, Rajasthan, is the one famous Brahma shrine. On the other hand, Vishnu and Shiva temples are found all over India. Starting from Badrinath and Kedarnath in the North, to Rameshvaram and Tiruvanantapuram in the South, Shiva and Vishnu Temples are everywhere. The Shaivaites worship Shiva in the form of Lingam, symbolic presentation of Energy! Lingaraj Temple at Bhabaneshwar is the famous shrine in Orissa and Somanatha Temple in the West are famous shrines.

  Let's not dwell into the stories associated with these Vedic deities and mix it up with the folklors, and puranic stories. Devotion (Shruddha-Bhakti) is important in the worship.  

    As to Ganesha, Isha, the Lord of Ganas, group of elements (pancha mahabhuta) is sthe Vedic Deity, Ganapati is eulogized in the Veda. The Ganapati is the Lord of all that is power, 'Knowledge'. We worship the Lord Ganapati today as the Vighneshvara, the Deity who wards off all obstacles that may come in our way in our effort to fulfill, achieve our desires.

   

Sri Krishna Janmashtami

   Sri Krishna janmashtami is celebrated all over India with joy and devotion, praising the lila of the Lord. His birthday is celebrated putting Him in a silver cradle, offering varieties of fruits and eatable that children cherish normally! It is day of fasting for elderly people! Since Krishna takes birth at midnight the whole night is one of singing and dance! This is the story of Krishna as depicted in the Srimad Bhagavatam. It is stated that Sage Vedavyasa was not happy even after scripting seventeen epics and Sage Narada meets him and asks why he is sad. Vyasadeva states that he is not happy with all that he has written and there is something that needs to be done. Sage Narada advises him to write the biography of Sri Krishna! Since he had already written the famous epic Mahabharata, this childhood story of Balakrishna was felt indeed necessary and this became his last epic! The Vaishnavas even today adore Srimad Bhavatam more than any other works of Vyasadeva. 

   Krishma is said to be the eighth child born in jaol in Mathura  to Vasudeva and Devaki. Devaki, sister of Kamsa was kept in jail along with Vasudeva after their marriage due to the fear that her son would kill him! It is said that Kamsa was rejoicing after the marriage celebrations and he heard a voice that warned him not to be so happy and joyful since her son would be the cause of his death! This created such a fear that he wanted to kill the newly-weds then and there! However, he was advised not to be hasty and wait. So he put them in jail and went on killing each and every child born to them. Actually, the eighth child was a girl child, however, Kamsa wanted to kill the child and threw her up and smash! The girl child, 'yogamaya', laughed at him saying that, "the child that would kill him is already born, and escaped!" This so much enraged Kamsa that he ordered killing of all children born in his kingdom on that day. In fact, the male child born was Krishna shifted to Devaki's sister's house by Vasudeva and a girl child was replaced! Thus, Krishna was brought up at Nanda's place Gokula! It is also said hat Krishna descended from Heavens at the same time the girl child yogamaya escaped! Krishna is depicted as God-incarnate, never born as a child in the womb! The Bhagavad-Gita narrates in every detail who Krishna is. Etymologically speaking Krush means that which deteriorates and na is never and thus, Krushna is that which never deteriorates. Krishna is also called Achyuta (nasharahita), the one who never diminishes or destroyed, and Ananta, the endless, and Govinda, the source of Light! He is also Devesha, Lord ofallGods!

    The childhood of Krishna is depicted in Bhagavatam is adventurous, beyond our imagination! The child killed Putani, tried to breast-feed poison, play pranks with other children, lifts up Mandhara parvata, lift and throw a bullock cart, and even killed Kamsa in a wrestling fight as a young boy! The child Krishna is depicted here as a very attractive, daring, fond of butter and cows! Village damsels used to gather to hear his flute and many of them used to forget everything and run to hear him playing his flute. Radha is one such who was mesmerized and devotedly loved Him till the end of her life. All these are to be taken in a symbolic way depicting the spiritual aspects rather than the worldly ones! Every word in the epics written by Vedavyasa has a deeper spiritual meaning. This is difficult for ordinary people to understand. It requires yogabhyasa and spiritual attainment. 

  We will not go into the childhood pranks of Krishna here. It is more intriguing to know many a colorful facets of life and deeds of Krishna. But before that, who this Krishna is remains a riddle! There is no mention of Krishna in any of the earlier scripture as remarked by the well known scholar Surendranath Dasgupta. However, Ahirbudhnya Samhita of Pancharatra Agama depicts Krishna as one of the several avataras of Vishnu. Lakshmi Tantra is another important work (by Prof. Samjukta Gupta, MLBD) that explains all these. Also, the Viashnava tradition traces the birth of Rama and Krishna as human beings! It is Aniruddha who is the Creator of these humans! Sankarshana and Pradyumna create the great sages and the devi devata as directed by Vasudeva under the powers granted by Sri Mahalakshmi who exercise the six powers (shakti) of Narayana- jnyana, shakti, aishvarya, bala, virya, and tejas. All these six powers are exercised, two of these each as special powers by Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, respectively. Thus we have the source of these in Agama shastra. This leaves no doubt about the creation of different levels of Consciousness. However, any one can make effort to rise from the lowest of the animals to the highest of Brahmn! Thus, we have even plants, birds, animals- bipeds and quadrupeds, deified and worshiped! Thus, Sri Krishna is depicted at different levels of Consciousness as seen from Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and the Bhagavad-Gita! The Bhagavad-Gita depicts Sri Krishna as 'nirakara parabrahman'! Vibhuti yoga (Ch.X of the Gita) depicting Sri Krishna as Purusha, the Seed of creation, and all that exists are His manifests forms! It goes to the credit of Sri Shankaracharya who discoverd the strange episode of the Bhagavad-Gita and Vishnu Sahasranamam in the Mahabharata Text! Actually, the Gitopadesha was first imparted to Sun Vaivasvan and the first Manu and then King Ikshvaku at the begining of creation, and not in the dvapara yuga of the Seventh Vaivasvata manvantara!   

(to be contd.)

Why Ayodhya Sri Ram is Great?

   There is a long lineage of Sri Ramachandra as the King of Ayodhya that can be traced to King Ikshvaku narrated in the Gita by Bhagavan Sri Krishna. He is the descendant of Manu and later King Harishchandra and the like. It is important to note how Bhagavan Sri Krishna appears again and again, as and when 'dharma' declines! In fact, 'dharma' declines at the end of every yuga! Each and every yuga ends disastrously due to decline in moral and ethical values of the people. When people become more and more sensuous, give up the basic values, people suffer and pray Lord to help them. Thus, the supreme Lord answers their call and appears in human form or any other form He wills to restore dharma! Thus, we have any number of great souls that have appeared on earth and worked to restore values! There are, at least, twenty-five avatars of Lord Vishnu and ten of them are said to be most important (dasha avatar), The appearance of human beings on earth is traced to a recent eons in geological eras. The earlier history of evolution is that of primates, reptiles, aves/birds (arboreal) and amphibians like the turtles, and the aquarian (fish), and the Plants, tracing backward! Man appeared recently on the scene and has to evolve to much higher and higher scales terminating in the divine! Thus, any living creature on earth is capable of attaining to this height and become a God (deified)!

     This is how, many a great divine souls have appeared and worked with us and shown us the way. Mahavira, Goutama, Krishna, Ramachandra, Nara-narayana Rishi are all deified! There are many a hundred who have lived pious life, served the poor and the downtrodden and, hence, worshiped by one and all. People have built temples and sculptured icons to worship them!

   Here, the role of Ramachandra of the 'treta yuga' of the present seventh manvantara (Vaivasvata) comes as an era of great attainment! Ramachandra was sent to Sage Vasishtha for learning eighteen vidyas suitable for a king. The Yoga Vasishtha traces his earlier education and his total transformation under the guidance of the Sage! He becomes more spiritual, kind and benevolent, and devotes his entire life for the service of the poor. The later developments are traced in a number of scholarly works under various Titles of Ramayana.

      What is important for us here is the secret behind this Ramayana. There is no doubt as to the recent history of Avadha Kingdom and Ayodhya City. The birth places of Sita in Nepal, and the kingdom of Ravana in Lanka (Sri Lanka) are all well known. But, there is an altogether a different mystery behind all these! These are traced to Agama Shastra, the spiritual texts that explain how the material objective phenomenal world is just a manifestation of the divine spiritual forces! The Objects are formed out of the words, and the words are formed from the alphabets! These alpha and beta of the transitional world is governed by divine will, expressed in vibrations, sounds and waves! Thus, the names of persons whom we adore and worship have come from divine sources! Etymology, philology, esoteric and morphological aspects of names are all important here, The term 'Rama' is derived of Ra that stands for Sun (Vivasvan) and Ma stands for the Earth (bhu)! Rama are thus the manifest aspects of sun and earth! Even the term Anjaneya is formed out of, or the manifest form of Anjana (Fire)! Thus, everything is of divine origin here!   

    Having realized this, great people try to follow the footprints of our forefathers! This is the special tradition of the Hindus, indigenous to Bharatavarsha, The Western countries, too, may be having their own history and tradition, but lost in wilderness, today. It is still living and vibrant in India today! Spiritual quotient is, thus of utmost importance here, much better than the Intelligence quotient?       

Brahman, the Self.

       This self was indeed Brahman in the beginning. It knew itself only as I am Brahman. Therefore, it became all. And whoever among the gods had this enlightenment, also became That Brahman. It is the same with the seers (rishis), the same with men. The seer Vamadeva, having realized this self as That, came to know: I was Manu and the sun. And to this day, whoever in a like manner knows the self as I am Brahman, becomes all this universe. Even the gods cannot prevent his becoming this, for he has become Now, all this universe was then undifferentiated. It became differentiated by name and form: it was known by such and such a name, and such and such a form. Thus, to this day this universe is differentiated by name and form; so it is said. He has such a name and such a form. This Self has entered into these bodies up to the very tips of the nails, as a razor lies hidden in its case, or as fire, which sustains the world, lies hidden in its source. People do not see the Self, for when viewed in parts It Gargya said: This being (purusha) who is in the mirror, I meditate upon as Brahman. Ajatasatru said: No, no! Please do not talk about him. I meditate upon him as shining. Whosoever thus meditates upon him becomes shining and his progeny too becomes shining and he outshines all those with whom he comes in contact. Gargya said: This being (purusha) who is in the mirror, I meditate upon as Brahman. Ajatasatru said: No, no! Please do not talk about him. I meditate upon him as shining. Whosoever thus meditates upon him becomes shining and his progeny too becomes shining and he outshines all those with whom he comes in contact.

Gargya said: The sound that arises behind a man while he walks, I meditate upon as Brahman. Ajatasatru said: No, no! Please do not talk about him. I meditate upon him as life. Whosoever thus meditates upon him reaches his full age on this earth and life does not depart from him before the completion of that time. [Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad II, I-Relative Aspects of Brahman, 9-10]

This supreme Goddess, Word, inspired by Brahman, by which the awe-inspiring is created, through her to us be peace! This supreme Spirit, inspired by Brahman, by which the awe-inspiring is created, through it to us be peace! These five sense organs, with the mind as the sixth, within my heart, inspired by Brahman, by which the awe-inspiring is created, through them to us be peace! [Atharva Veda XIX, 9, 3-5].is incomplete: when breathing, It is called the vital breath (prana); when speaking, the organ of speech; when seeing, the eye; when hearing, the ear; when thinking, the mind. These are merely Its names according to Its functions. He who meditates on one or another of Its aspects does not know, for It is then incomplete: Atman, the Self, is separated from Its totality by being associated with a single characteristic. The Self alone is to be meditated upon, for in It all these become unified. Of all these, this Self alone should be known, for one knows all these through It, just as one may find an animal which is lost through its footprints. He who thus knows the Self obtains fame and association with dear ones. This Self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, because It is innermost. If one holding the Self dear were to say to a person who speaks of anything other than the Self as dear, that he, the latter, will lose what he holds dear-and the former is certainly competent to do so-it will indeed come true. One should meditate upon the Self alone as dear. He who meditates upon the Self alone as dear-what he holds dear will not perish. They say: Since men think that by the Knowledge of Brahman they become all, what, pray, was it that Brahman knew by which It became all? Now, if a man worships another deity, thinking: He is one and I am another, he does not know. He is like an animal to the gods. As many animals serve a man, so does each man serve the gods. Even if one animal is taken away, it causes anguish to the owner; how much more so when many are taken away! Therefore it is not pleasing to the gods that men should know this.