Saraswati’s grace on Hinduism

For Hindus who prefer to remember Devi Saraswati only once a year, Basant Panchami, her birthday, is the best day for her remembrance. On her last birthday, we learned that the Devi holds a book and uses a swan as her vehicle. This year, we can go on to understand what these symbolize.

What is the title of the book that Saraswati holds? Graciously, the book does not have a title, for it represents the totality of all knowledge. It can be understood as the masterpiece from which the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma Sutras, and the poems of the Bhakti Saints have been created and the Hindu books of the future will be created [1]. Because Saraswati holds a dynamic scripture with countless pages, she, out of her compassion on beings, has granted multiple philosophical viewpoints to Hinduism, along with the inclusiveness for more. Whenever a human realizes Brahman, more original information is acquired from the scripture that Saraswati holds and is added to the library of Hinduism [2]. It is due to her grace that Hinduism always has additional white space for seekers to write on.

Saraswati’s vehicle, the swan, teaches us how to access the knowledge that seekers from different eras have gifted us. Whenever we read a book, whether Hindu or not, or listen to a lecture, we are expected to absorb only the information that appears righteous and applicable, depending upon our location and era. In Hinduism, the ability of followers to separate out the useful information from the redundant [3] has minimized the harm from unintentional and deliberate misinterpretation of scriptures. This blessing of the swan discourages compulsive following of a philosophy and leads to adaptability — a unique stronghold of Hinduism.

[1] According to a viewpoint, the Vedas symbolize the totality of all knowledge. In this context, we can say that the Goddess holds the Vedas, generally attributed to Gayatri, a form of Saraswati.
[2] Note that Brahman does not change with time; only our approach to Brahman changes by her guidance.
[3] It is commonly said that if a swan is presented with a blend of milk and water, it drinks the milk and leaves the water behind.

Hanuman Chalisa: Introduction

The auspicious occasion of Diwali, Lord Hanuman's preferred festival, has arrived again. Beginning today, we'll be going through the Hanuman chalisa on this blog.

The content has been moved and can be read on this page.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Hanuman Chalisa has been updated (lines 33 through 40).

The three primary incarnations of Shakti

According to a tale in the Shiva Purana, preparations for the incarnation of the three major forms of Shakti, Parvati, Sita, and Radha, started a long time before they actually appeared on Earth. Interestingly, the preparations for these three incarnations had begun at around the same time.

The narration tells us that three self-realized sisters with divine ancestory, Mena, Dhanya, and Kalavati, were once attending a spiritual conference at an abode of Vishnu. Unfortunately, they acquired a curse from Sanat Kumara for their slight impoliteness towards the sage and his three brothers [1]. The curse involved the birth of the sisters as human beings on Earth. But as soon as the sisters apologized, the sage, saturated with mercy, modified his own curse into boons that were extensive by any standard.

Sanat Kumara said, “Mena, the eldest sister, will become the spouse of Himalaya. She’ll eventually reach Shivaloka to reside with her daughter, a form of Para Shakti. Dhanya, following her birth on Earth, will get married to King Janaka. She will later reach Vaikuntha to live with her divine daughter, the spouse of Rama. And Kalavati, the youngest sister, will become the spouse of Vrishbhanu; she will eventually reach Goloka to reside with her daughter, the shakti of Krishna.”

Though Para Shakti may incarnate on Earth in different ages, it appears that the perfect scheduling and design of leelas in the universe does not take her any time.

Happy Navaratri!

[1] Sanat Kumara and his brothers, Sanaka, Sananda, and Sanatana, are the earliest sages to appear in the universe; they had originated from Lord Brahma’s mind.

Markandeya meets Baby Krishna

Rishi Markandeya is known to maintain his identity even after the world’s dissolution; he gets to meditate on the Supreme Soul when there is no one else around. According to the Mahabharata, once Yudhisthira asked the rishi, “There is nothing in the universe that you do not know. Could you please tell us something about the cause of this universe?”

Markandeya started sharing his experience, “After a thousand cycles of the four yugas go by, a day of Lord Brahma is completed, and it is time for the world to dissolve (pralaya) so that Brahma can get some rest. It rains for years, the mountains submerge, and Brahma recalls the atmosphere.”

“Once, when I was wandering in the ocean of dissolution and felt weary, I saw a beautiful baby on a tree, who gracefully offered me some rest in his stomach. I entered his mouth and saw the entire creation inside his never-ending body. When I exited his mouth after a hundred year-long journey, the baby asked me if I had taken enough rest. I touched his lotus-like, pink-soled feet with my head and asked him why he was situated on the tree and how long he would be staying there. The baby told me that the water is one of his permanent abodes and this is why he is known as Narayana. He said that he would be living on the tree as a baby until Brahma wakes up.”

Markandeya continued, “Your cousin, Krishna, is the same Supreme Soul I had met that day. Krishna, the refuge of all, the creator and sustainer of the universe, is achintya (beyond thought), though he appears perceptible to us because of his divine plays.”

Happy Janmashtami!

Navadha Bhakti

Besides chanting God’s name with faith and satsang, the classical nine kinds of devotion listed in the Ramacharitmanasa include adoration of God’s legends; ego less devotion to the Guru; singing praise for God with an honest heart; leading a spiritual life characterized by the control of senses, integrity, detachment, and saintly karma; recognizing God in all creation and treating saints higher than even God; contentment in whatever one gets in life and abstinence from criticism of fellow beings; and a combination of simplicity, lack of deception, and faith in God coupled with the absence of joy or sorrow. The presence of even one of these forms of devotion is said to be sufficient for a lifetime.

Out of the above, the last four forms of devotion are more likely features of great souls and cannot be classified as preliminary remembrance techniques for reaching God. As for adoration of God’s legends, it involves thinking about our chosen Personal God and our favorite sacred narratives associated with him or her in Puranas and Epics. Out of the innumerable tales that exist, devotees enjoy the freedom to remember and discuss the instances about their Personal God that they love the most....Singing hymns or praise for God with an honest heart is similar to chanting names or adoring stories, except that music is also used as a means in this form of devotion. When lyrics for God are served with music, the expression of devotion gets amplified, for music is itself composed of divine sounds.

Excerpted from Devotional Hinduism by M.S. Goel (2008), p. 22

Defeating corruption

Hinduism, with its eternal focus on righteousness, the rich guidance it has continuously received from the self-realized, and the disciplined lifestyle that it supports, is the most equipped among world religions for combating corruption [1]. For individuals who wish to change, the scriptures that Hindus typically read everyday can provide sufficient self-help for developing rajasic and sattvic traits. For those who can no longer get on track on their own, Hinduism offers satsang, one’s ultimate hope for change.

What blocks the transformation of the corrupt people among us? Do they believe in God’s authority [2]? It appears that many of them would answer the second question in the affirmative. Probably, they too listen to discourses and memorize praise for God, just like many of the honest people do. Yet, for some reason or the lack of it, they seem to feel that they are faultless. This can be one of their biggest obstacles. While the corrupt would believe that they are goodness incarnate, a saint like Kabirdasa would feel that he or she has more flaws than anyone else in the world [3]. Our recognition of our own imperfections in action and thought, as opposed to a combination of egomania, greed and unkindness, allows our ethical and spiritual advancement.

While Hinduism, with the karmic law in place, has not been gentle towards the corrupt, the Hindu tradition offers a second chance to all the individuals who have realized their fault. To defeat corruption in the mind, we need to go beyond the label of being religious (or spiritual) and start assimilating the teachings of our chosen spiritual path [4].

[1] When we perceive Hinduism as Sanatana Dharma, saying that Hinduism can help us combat corruption becomes redundant because corruption does not exist when everyone follows dharma and performs his or her duties honestly.
[2] This blog does not intend to correlate atheism or one's spiritual beliefs with morality.
[3] See Kabiradasa’s doha: “bura jo dekhan main chala, bura na milya…”
[4] A spiritual solution may not be practicable for everyone; defeating the shadripu (including greed) in the mind is more difficult than respecting the law.

Rama-nama

Devotional saints have sung the glories of Rama-nama (“the name of Rama”) in intriguing ways. Tulasidasa considers Rama-nama superior than Nirguna Brahman as well as Bhagavan Rama himself because Rama, during his visit to Earth, liberated only a limited number of devotees, but chanting his divine name has provided the highest bliss to countless beings, including immoral ones [1]. Mirabai, in her poems, considers Rama-nama the highest gem that her guru has granted and advises everyone to drink this nectar to make their lives meaningful. Similarly, Tukaram says that Rama’s name, “the essence of nectar,” destroys all suffering and attachment to karma.

What do we need to be able to chant Rama’s name? The most significant blessing, according to Tulasidasa, is Shraddha-Vishwas (“Reverence-Trust”). If our mind does not want to recognize Rama as the Divine, reading numerous versions of the Ramayana and devotional literature will not change our views. On the other hand, once we have been gifted with trust, we can easily admire Rama’s divinity and grace everywhere. Ultimately, it is Devi Parvati and Lord Shiva, the “personifications of reverence and trust” [2], who connect a jiva to Rama. This is why Tulasidasa remembers the Divine Parents on the first page of the Ramacharitamanasa, “without whose grace even mystics can not recognize the Ishvara living in their own minds.”

[1] Shloka 31-32, Dohavali; Gita Press.
[2] Bhavani-Shankarau vande shraddha-vishwas-rupinau