Religion, Philosophy and Spirituality

There is a thin line of difference and demarcation among these faiths and belief systems. At the outset, philosophy will not in any help attainment of emancipation, liberation of the embodied soul since it remains an intellectual discussion, argument and ends up in confusion. It is, rather, called philo sophia a love for words. Many Universities are closing the philosophy departments for want of students these days!  There are no takers for philosophical discourses since these take us nowhere.

  As regards, religion and religious faiths, people of different geographical regions have developed their independent belief systems and there is nothing wrong in following want one wants. There are many religions which firmly believe in liberation, mukti. No religions advocates hatred, ill-will and strife and it is not a religion if one cultivates hatred and crime against humanity in the name of religion! There are great saints in all religions and the Sufi saints are the most intelligent persons spreading peace and good-will.

   spirituality is an inward journey and, as such, individual exercise in yogic trance. This is not for material benefits and thereby does not attract or interest common people. Most of the spiritual seekers live in isolation and do not mix with the common people. 'Spirituality is not for the crowd', they say. Spiritual seekers take to renunciation, japa, tapa, dhyana, dharana and samadhi.  Adhyatma Sadhana or spiritual practice is a long-drawn process and ends with the last breath only. There is nothing like return to the worldly sensual life after one takes to spiritual life simply because the former does not interest any more. Those who indulge in worldly life shall not come to spiritual practice until they get fed up with it. There is turning point in every person's life that drags him/her away from indulgences in worldly pursuits. It is the fruits of past life (purva punya), Lord's grace, or a divine intervention, at that. When a person loses everything and stands naked in the street he /she turns to God.  This is the secret. 

  Bhakti cult is endowed with emotional attachment to the divine while spirituality comes with jnyan, viveka and vairagya. Knowledge by itself will not help. Spiritual texts are like recipe books but will not give food to a hungry person. Knowledge should be culled into wisdom and wisdom should bring renunciation; then only a person takes to spiritual pursuits. Spiritual life is the last journey of the soul! It comes almost after the jiva is fully mature, transcend all the stages of life over several lives. One has to cleanse the blemishes like attachment, desires, dreams, aspirations, anger, ego, jealous, selfishness, etc that are stains smeared to the soul that is pure and crystal clear. Unless these are removed the jiva cannot get liberated from repeated births and deaths. 

Pramana

It is often asked, "What is the proof?" The statements made in these blogs site are purely of spiritual/Adhyatmic nature. Our existence by itself is the proof that "we exist" because of 'that' ('tat') and that is brahmn, the underlying subtle force, power, Shakti- the manifest form of Purusha. However, the doctrines enunciated in the Veda and Upanishads serve as the basis of our 'Knowledge concerning the Self'- Atmajnyan. We do not consider Ramayana, Mahabharata, or the Bhagavata purana as pramana since these are mere epics of imaginary characters like those born to mantra shakti (Pandava and Karna) stories, drama, written for the common people to inculcate the dharma to those who cannot study the Veda, Upanishads, or the Brahma Sutra. However, the Bhagavad-Gita that has come as an interlude in Mahabharata is an exception.The Bhagavad-Gita is a valuable guide to us to attain salvation. It teaches us how to attain to the Shree Krishna Consciousness, the pure state devoid of all qualities through yoga. Not all can reach the state of pure consciousness as enunciated in the scripture in one or two lives. The jiva has to experience life and purify itself.

   Some of the Vedic and Upanishadic statements quoted in our previous blog sites are, for instance, tad aikshata bahusyam | Chandogya Upanishad VI. 2.3.

anena jivena atmanaa anupravishya  (Chandogya Upanishad Vi. 3.2.

gounashcet naatma-shabdaat | Brahmasutra. I.1.6.

sakshi cet kevalo nirgunashca | Svetasvatra Upanishad VI. 11.

  These statements will be elaborated later. However, it suffices to state here, that these statements have come to us from many scriptures- written and unwritten (like the Veda). The Veda are mantra (Rks) consisting of intuitive knowledge that has been visioned in the state of transcendental meditation, atindriys gocara in samadhi. and then conveyed from father to son, or a teacher to his disciple, with a condition not to write it down, or explain word-by-word dividing words (pada-chheda); the Veda mantra is full of symbolism, images, and signs, secret codes (some dummy words, too) and its importance lies in phonetic perfection. Here, pronunciation with accent on particular syllables (with hrusva and deergha svara and vyanjana akshara) or shabda, sound, is important. This aspect has been ignored by all the modern commentators of the scriptures. The Veda is not for study but to hear in its perfect, chaste, pronunciation. This is the secret of the veda. The nerves and neurons, the cells of the body get energized and rejuvenated by chants of veda (veda ghosha). That is all. When the Veda is the final word, saying, evam veda | where is the need for another proof (pramana)?

(See "Decoding the Veda"- Rk Veda Samhita, by the same author for more details. Available by attachment to those who send their e-mail address to <divinegraecfoundation@gmail.com>).

" This 'I' Does not exist"

    The term 'I' often used by us has many shades of meaning. The term 'I' actually does not exist! It is only a pronoun used for first person singular and for plural, the term used is 'we'. When child is born it does not posses any name! A name is given by somebody and different persons call the child by different pet names, too. If the name itself is dubious, the pronoun used for that name is also not true. Great sages advise us to drop all name, form and function and see the 'truth'. If the term 'i' does not exist, the term 'we' also does not exist! Thus, both the terms 'i' and 'we' normally used in daily use refers to some person and people, respectively, who are anonymous! Everybody uses the term 'we' for a set of persons whose names, forms, and functions are not explicitly clear; however, the term 'i' is used it refers to a person whose name, form, and function is implied. If the name, form and function is dropped what remains is the 'sat', the 'real person'. As we understand, people use 'i' to impress on others who he/she is; but, actually refer to  whom is the question here. Is it the physical body, or merely a name, or does it mean a person, or his intelligence and mind, or is it merely ego, ahankar? It is definitely the 'ego' (ahankar/ 'aham-ness') that prompts a person to say, "I am so and so, i did this, this, and this, etc.The person is not aware of what he means when he uses this 'i' again and again. 

   Now, another question is: "Where has this i gone when a person is in deep sleep?" One can easily see this 'i' when one is dreaming since happiness or fear is experienced in dreams; there is this 'i' that is visualizing the dream sequences. This small English letter 'i' refers to individualized self, not to the soul, Atman. The capital 'I' is used to refer to the 'Self', the Atman..

  Actually, this concept of 'I' disappears in deep sleep along with the body consciousness; so also, the senses, mind, the intellect. All these appendages of the jiva are withdrawn in deep sleep and a person is quietly at rest in deep sleep. It is the avidya, nascence that the jiva does not realize the fact that it is merged in its true 'Self', the soul or the Atman.  The individual consciousness is awake when all these appendages such as manas, buddhi, ahankar and the indriya are withdrawn or merged in the Atman. A person in deep sleep wakes up refreshed after a good sleep, and as such, he has got the memory of his state of happiness in deep sleep; but he / she is not aware of existence in the world. A person in deep sleep will not know what happened while in deep sleep, He or she sleeps like a log of wood, if not dead, and does not know even if his house is burgled.

    A person attains this state of avidya, ignorance, at birth due to the nature of the material body, an elemental one- of the five elements like water, soil, air, fire and space. It is acquired from the earth, the mother and the father and everything that surrounds the jiva. This can be overcome only by reverting to the pure state of prenatal elemental state of Hydrogen, not even Oxygen, Carbon, and any other lighter gases!

   A person or jiva is said to be emancipated only when it  drops this acquired ahankar 'i' and reverts to pure state. This is mukti to the embodied soul.
   Another version of 'I' is also there. This is the visioning eye, the eye that sees and conveys the objects on the mind screen. Unfortunately, there are two eyes and one has to focus them and get the object in proper vision; however, these eyes are so weak and limited in power that they cannot give the true picture. They give room for aberrations. Most of us say, 'i saw' but cannot explain what is it seen! This is evident in the case of eye witnesses in court rooms. The judge has to dismiss the eye witness since the intelligent advocate brings out the truth or falsehood of what the eyes saw- at near, far or side-ways, etc.
    There is another eye that sees inward. It is at the place between the two eye brows, bhrukuti. This inner eye gives us insight, antar-drushti. It sees inward and gives us a lot of inner meaning, insight. We normally do not use it. It requires yogic practice to use this inner eye and get the vision of the unseen reality of our existence- both inside and outside of us.
   Yet another Vedic version of the eye is akshi-purusha. Brahmasutra explains the eye as the purusha. The person in the eye is the self of all. Every body sees him, self in every eye,because the pupil acts as a mirror. Since what we see is the self, self all, it is said to be the brahman.
   The eyes connect the sun in the heavens with the soul, Atman. Hence I and my "Father in Heavens are one".  tat tvam asi |"The perceiver and the perceived become one", is the principle.

Evolution of Consciousness

  'Consciousness' (prajnya or chit-shakti /chetana) is everything; nothing exists without this chit-shakti, prajnya. A person is said to be clinically dead when the brain stops working; the same is not true when the mind stops working! In fact, it is the state of samadhi, quiet state of 'dhee' when the vibrant mind is at rest. The yogins work hard through meditation, dhyana, to attain this state of thoughtlessness; it is manonasha or laya yoga. This is highest state of consciousness and the next state is of krishna-prajnya or the Buddha state.

   When we say krishna* or the buddha* it is a state of consciousness not the person named as such; actually, it is Gautama who became the buddha. Gautama was a fool (buddhu) although he had intellect (buddhi) and when he realized this he became the wise man, enlightened one (buddha). The difference lies in the letters u, i and a added to the buddh. So anybody can become a buddha!

  As already stated all the seven states of prajnya are within one's own mind and, as such, anybody can reach any state from a human with high animal propensity (pashu vrutti) to a more human showing love, compassion, selflessness, sacrifice, etc and become more divine- more benevolent. Further up, anyone can become totally enlightened and drop the worldly life and live joyfully. These states are the bhui, bhuvar and svar lokas. What is the use of chanting the gayatree mantra if one can attain these higher states of existence even as one is living a human life? This is the secret of mantra japa. As and when the sadhaka increases the number of japa and merges in dhyana, he/she will gradually increase the power of his concentration and his chakras get activated. With the activation of the lower chakra, he will get over the controlling power of that chakra and rises ti the next. This way, one by one the sadhaka has to transcend the seven chakras and reach the sahasrar chakra. The sahasrar chakra is the ultimate point to be reached by a sadhaka. As and when the sadhaka gets control over the chakra, the associated qualities will be overcome and finally there will be no appetite for food. A yogi will slowly overcome all the attraction of worldly life and become happy to be alone and engage in dhyana more and more. Thus, the yogi transcends the dualities, time, space and causality and reach the state of 'unity consciousness' This may be achieved either gradually, or instantly with the help of divine grace. However, mukti or emancipation is achieved and the jiva will never return to earthly existence.
  When we mean attainment of sahasrar prajnya or transcend the seven lokas, it only means that the yogins will exhibit the qualities of higher living beings like the pitru/manes, devata and the jnyani or Saints. One need not die in order to reach these loka or realms. We see such great souls amidst us but fail to recognize them since ordinary people do not have the capacity to visualize these higher souls.
   Attaining higher levels of consciousness means acquiring qualities of divine forces by constantly purifying oneself dropping all narrow mindedness, selfishness, negative thoughts, ideas and actions, and thinking of evil and harming others, cheating, telling lies and living a selfish life. There is no other heaven (svarga) than keeping quiet, happy and joyful whether alone or amidst company. Such people are always happy and blessed and they do not depend on others for their happiness.
   It should be clearly understood that the soul entered the earth as a stellar particle (Light/photon) full of energy and later on acquired the qualities of the elements with which it got associated. Even soil, water, food, air we breathe, and the people we associate with pollute the pure soul, Atman, rather enmesh it. This is the cause of our avidya, nascence- knowledge covered by attachment, anger, desires, etc. Hence, if any embodied jiva wants to get rid of this shackle of rebirth, metempsychosis. So the embodied jiva should cleanse off of all its blemishes and become as pure as the Light particle that can join the sun rays and enter into space. This is emancipation, mukti or moksha.     

Aradhana, Archana and Prarthana,

Why do we worship devi devata? What do we get from them? How to worship them?

  It is interesting to know how and why worship devi devata. There are many ways of worship, aradhana, archana of devi devata and elaborate procedures are laid down in the pancharatra agama shastra for this purpose. The worship or archana is done to the idols, icons or murti according to the ancient dravidian* tradition in the South and the saligrama/shalagrama or just stones with certain marks are worshiped in the Northern parts of India. The famous shrine of vaishnodevi devi in Katra (J&K), kamakhya devi in Assam or Shivalingam in Kashi (Varanasi), or vishnu pada in Gaya are examples. The beautifully carved idol of Sri venkateshvara and Lakshmi devi, padmavati, or devi kamakshi is just an example of the archana of idols. These idols are carved by sculptors according to rules laid down in shilpa shastra (iconography), and the idols are worshiped according to the Vedic rites. This is called archavatara. The principle here is that the Lord wants to be worshiped and appears in dream and directs the sculptors to cut the figures in stones, wood, metals, ivory, etc. Of course, these are our own faith and belief system. Sri Madhvacharya of Udupi, in Southern Karnataka is said to have got the idol of Shree Krishna brought in a ship from Dwarka! So also, Shree Shankaracharya established the idol of devi Sharadamba made of Sandal wood in Sringeri (supposed to be brought from Srinagar, Kashmir). This idol is now made of gold and this was installed by Sri Vidyaranya. Thus, there are many accounts of these temples, mathas and shrines where devi devata are worshiped.  

   But, what is that we are worshiping? The Veda clearly lays down that any idol with face of humans or animals should not be worshiped! Then what is it we are doing. This fact is made clear in Shreevidya promoted by Sri Vidyaranya. Worship of devi devata that are merely divine forces (Shakti) is necessary in order to divert our attention from the worldly attractions, at least for some time, and concentrate our mind on something that soothes and makes it calm, peaceful. It is very difficult to control the vibrant mental force and it has to be calmed down to maintain good health. So, it is advised ti sit quiet. But, it is not possible to sit quiet even for a few seconds since the mind is always vibrant. This has necessitated the worship of idols. Simple people can use anything like a piece of stone and rejoice worshiping it and be happy. The so called intellectuals have complicated this by elaborate methods of rituals.

  The rituals are quite elaborate and most of these start with the fire sacrifice (yajnya), havan, homa, etc. where the fire god,  agni is worshiped offering ghee and boiled rice. Vedic mantra are used in these worship. Simple forms are just to worship keeping a betel nut and treat it as a symbol of  Lord ganapati, the vighnahara (remover of obstacles)! Another method is kalasha puja where a small brass, silver pot filled with water covered by some mango leaves and a coconut is used as the devi and worshiped. There are elaborate methods of installing (pratishthapana), inviting the devi devata and offering seat, water, flowers, burn scented /agar sticks, offer naivedyam and perform arti. The naivedyam.is later on distributed to all. Thus a small ritual on occasions bring happiness, joy and a get-together of all family members, friends and well wishers. There are auspicious days when these festivities are celebrated.
   However, the best of the worship of devi devata is by means of mantra japa. Mantra japa is said to be the most ideal way of worship followed by dhyana (constant remembering of the divine), and dharana (total contemplation) that leads to samadhi. What is important is our own awareness of the supreme power that has created us (right from the day one when we entered the earth as a stellar particle and embodied in an elemental body as anna, prana and became a prani, animal. This embodiment is not an easy one to understand. The scientists may study the creation but not know the creator and, hence this prayer or aradhana of divine powers.
    God or devi devata do not want anything from us. He / She / It is already benevolent and well disposed towards us. It is we, our mind and intellect that has directed us to indulge in all these and we are blindly following all these. It seems inevitable and we practice it as family tradition during childhood and may drop all these; nothing will happen, unless one is of strong mind. But, a weak minded person may feel bad. However, it is absolutely essential to keep a few minutes or an hour daily to divert the attention from worldly affairs and quieten the mind. Ultimately, one has to revert to an inward journey sooner or later. It is essential since the embodied soul craves for emancipation. The spiritual entity called the soul/atman has developed the elemental or material body due to avidya/ignorance and realizes its mistake and wants to take its return journey towards its pure state of quietude or nirvana.
   Moreover, these devi devata are not outside of us. These are all established in our own physical body at strategic points and maintain the function of the body. The physical entity was not functioning when the Lord desired and manifest (created) by the divine force, Shakti. So He, the Lord, entered it. tadsrishtva tadevanupravishat, says the Veda. Since the Lord entered into and established Himself in the Lotus Heart (hrutkamala), all the devi devatas ,too entered along with Him to serve Him. So there are no devi devata outside of the human body. Every person should realize this and keep his/her body clean, serve it with selected sattvic food as naivedyam, chant the name of the personal God (ishta devata). It is absolutely certain that whoever created it will sustain it and do whatever He wants! There is 'free will' given to the jiva but it is of no use! Hence, the jiva should surrender to the 'divine will', and perform his/her ordained duties. The duty is to serve the fellow beings that include all jivarashi- from an ant and elephant to humans without any discrimination. There is no other purpose than this. All other cravings of the jiva will bind it to the eternal cycle of births and deaths. The jiva should remember well that this earth is not for any enjoyment since old age, sickness and death are certain. The jiva should work out ways and means (sadhana chatushtaya) to redeem its self and get out as early as possible. This is liberation, emancipation, mukti and moksha.  The Buddha rightly said, "Desire is the cause of misery". But whose desire is this? It is Lord's own will and desire and the jiva suffers due to its ignorance. It is the Lord who said,I am alone and I shall become many. Lo! We are here!
  The foolish jiva thinks this world is real and runs after insatiable desires and thereby suffers. Even Sri Ramachandra, who studied under the great  Sage Vashishtha ran after the Golden Deer! Did he not realize that these things like gagana kusuma (flower in the sky), bangarada jinke (golden deer), kodina meenu (fish with horn), banjeya maga (son of a barren woman) etc. are simply names and do not exist in reality? So also, these wife or husband, children, friends and relatives! Little do we realize the fact that all these transient materials of the world are unreal. This is the ultimate reality. 

More about devi and devata

   The funniest part of stories depicted in the purana (epics) is the lineage and descent (avatara) of devi devata. The kourava and pandava, Bhishma or Shree Krishna are characters of a drama- Mahabharata, and they are not depicted as the humans! The pandava and the first-born karna are born to kunti as the blessings of a great sage who gave her five mantra and, as such, they are born as mantrasya putrah. the story depicts pandu left kunti on the very day of their marriage due to curse! Bhishma is the lowest level of prajnya where he took a decision not to marry and still continued to take care of the kourava leading to the catastrophic war and total destruction at the end! Shree Krishna chides him and asks Bhishma how could he take such a vow?
   Thus, these characters created to show the frivolous mind in the drama of life unfolds itself! That way, William Shakespeare has created many characters and even the Creator brahma may wonder at that! There are icons, symbolic, indicating some secrets which we cannot decipher, and these are not the truth. The devi and devata do not come to us from some where. They are already within us as we are endowed with certain powers to discern. Yoga helps us to visualize these powers and experience them, too. It is clearly stated that devi Sharadamba's grace will help to decode the secrets of the Veda. We have certain family religious traits, faith and tradition and we firmly believe and many of us practice them. We experience the powers of these Shakti devata in our day-to-day life.
    The epics (purana) depict the devi and devata and many commentators have presented them in an absurd manner and often obscene ways and create lot of problems to us in explaining them. For instance, sage vashishtha as kumbhodbhava is absurd (see the commentary by Asthan Mahavidwan P. H. Venkata Rao: Rugveda Samhita, mandala VII Sukta 20-80, especially sukta 33 on pages138-40). Here, the learned Mahavidvan states that a drop of semen fell down when mitra and varuna were copulating in the heavens! The elemental gods mitra and varuna are not the humans to copulate and it is it not absurd to state that semen fell down to create the sages, who are the stars? This narration is sickening. So also, the husband, wife, children and grandchildren and other relationship narrated in the epics. There are no physical bodies to these devi devata. However, these are Shakti that operate on our mind and buddhi.The power of sacred sound or mantra is attributed to these devi devata. The devata is an embodiment, the body, of the mantra and, as such, they have anga mantra and nyasa mantra.  This is explained in the matrika concept  in Shreevidhya.

   The first manifest form of para vasudeva or narayana is Aditya and the self effulgent manifest form of Aditya is the Sun, a mass of Hydrogen covered by a thin layer of Helium. These two gaseous elements are actually the the First manu, surya vivasvan as explained in the Bhagavad-Gita (Ch. IV. Verse 1). The first to manifest every manvantara is always the surya (Sun). Hence there will be fourteen manvantaras each one with the emergence of a Star as the first manu, and then come the planets and their satellites. The earth and the moon are the condensed form of the solar flares. The earth gets all its material content as air- with hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, methane, ozone and other minor gases, water vapor that condense and form rain and snow, and then the elements, minerals and compounds (rocks and soil), etc- all from one single source, the surya only. The scriptures or the shastra describe them as pancha mahabhuta-  akasha, vayu, agni, jala and pruthvi and their respective essence, tanmatra. Actually, everything manifest from the previous ones and these can be finally traced to brahman, narayan, para vasudeva. That which comes first, or prior to, may be called the father or mother and that which comes next may be son or daughter. This process of manifestation repeats every epoch or manvantara and, so far seven of them are over and another seven are to come! Every time  the same process repeats. Followed by the first manu vivasvan comes the Creator barhma, and the sustaining force vishnu, rudra, maheshvara, sapta rushi, indradi devatas, elemental gods like vayu, agni, marut, etc. All these are within us!
    The earth's atmosphere is thick with gaseous body (troposphere) and becomes thin higher and higher as in stratosphere, chemosphere, ionosphere and exosphere beyond which there is nothing. Thus, the shastra and purana explain the same thing that is explained in modern science. The only difference is that the names given to the forces as Shakti devata in shastra and purana are in scientific terminology in physics, chemistry, etc. Hence, narayana or para vasudeva manifest as sankarshana, pradyumna, aniruddha, sudarshana, lakshmi, etc. These are not in anyway different from the scientific version, excepting that these are subtle forces that precede the elemental world (padartha prapancha). The sound of breath is called dhvani or shabda (sound), vaak or vani and its deity is devi saraswati; saraswati is not the wife or daughter of brahma- the chaturmuka creative force. It is the creative force.

  Let alone these devi devatas are called husband and wife like Shree venkataramana, padmavati and lakshmi devi, the pundits literally attach sixteen thousand wives to Shree krishna little do they understand that he is the pati, the protector, to all mankind. Shree krishna had promised the widows and the orphans that He would protect them after the Mahabharata war was over and He fuldilled that promise. These pundits say He literally eloped with one subhadra or married rukmini and satybhama or give eight legal wives! Actually radha was mesmerized by krishna's flute and never married Him. There are female forms of ganapati, narasima (pratyangira), varahi, brahmi, vaishnavi, etc indicatuing the Shakti aspects. These should be properly understood.
   Giving names, forms and functions and attributes are the human creation. Since they say god created man in his own image, as a pratibimba, it is natural that man also creates a god of his choice and gives name, form, function and attributes. Many pundits go to the extent of saying sankarshana is the son of vishnu and pradyumna and aniruddha are the grandson, etc. These are absurd statements. Lord Shree Krishna says, "These fools, mudha, make me a child and fondle Me, and later get me married (as in Srinivasa kalyana or the tulasi lagna)! There is no end to their foolishness. He, the Lord says, "Not even the great sages or devi devata  ever know Me; I cannot be known from the scriptures or by any means. I am the nitya (eternal), nirantara (always existent), nirakara (form-less) parabrahman (the power-that-be beyond the universe).

nama rupa of devi devata

   The most intriguing part of the Hindu devi devata is that of nama (names) rupa (face), functions or powers, and number of hands and the articles held in the hands (shastra). These may, at the outset appear ridiculous, but well founded by agama shastra and purana (epics) to some extent. However, the symbolism in these scriptures is extremely difficult to understand. Let us take the case of the deity narasinha where the figure is half lion and half human; incidentally, there is the Sphinx in Egypt where the body is of a lion and the face of a human! Is this a strange coincidence or there is some secret behind this? 

   According to the vishnu purana the lord descended to earth to resurrect the veda and help the saints whenever there was total devastation, pralaya. Lord Shree Krishna says, "I shall take birth here to restore dharma whenever there is total annihilation". One such avatara is that of Lord narasimha who had to kill the wicked king hiranyakashipu who was harassing his own child prahlada who was devoted to Lord narayana. There is a long, long story behind this and we will keep this for a detailed study later. Here, the Lord had to come half human and half animal since the wicked king hiranyakashipu was bestowed with a boon that no animal or man could kill him!
  There is another version about King narsimha deva ruling North of trivishtap (Tibet) about half a million years ago! Not only narasimha deva, even  shiva, vishnu, brahma and kubera were ruling along the Himalayan kingdoms from meru parvata to present day China. Rk Veda mantra are quoted to narrate the history and geography of Bharat dated back to 0.5 Million years  (See 'The Sphinx Speaks' By J. Singh, Delhi 1956). These Kings were virtually gods to their subjects and common people worshiped them according to tradition. 

  Curiously enough, this Sphinx and the figure of narasimha devaru leads some to query whether there was transplantation of organs?
   There are a number of other deities who have animal head and these too have to be accounted for. For instance, the goat is called 'aja' in Samskruta bhasha. the term 'aja' also means brahma and ghee derived from goat's milk. This 'aja' is associated with the Veda. Similarly, monkey, horse, and such other animal-heads are adoring the deities. In Rk Veda mantra the Horse means speed, Bow and Arrows mean the creative forces. The term 'monkey' here stands for mind and the deity of Mind is the Moon and hanuman is the deity of life-force (prana). The elephant head for the deity ganesh is indicative of keen eyes, sharp eyes and all round alertness or awareness. Thus the symbols used in the epics have hidden meanings and these have to be decoded.

   There is yet another possibility in putting the faces of animals and birds to deities. May be, these plants, animals, and birds have attained divinity by constant contemplation (dharana) on brahman and there by came to be worshiped by humans, too. Suggestions are welcome in this regard.
   Every avatara of Lord vishnu has been misinterpreted by the pundits. The evolution of life-forms, the ancient history and geography are not considered by samskruta vidvans. These shall be reviewed in the next few blogs.