Srimadh Bagawatham - Vamanavatarm Part 2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/10/srimadh-bagawatham-vamanavataram-part-1.html

After the sacred thread ceremony, the celestials informed the Lord that Bali Chakravathi was performing the Ashwamedha sacrifivce at the northern bank of the Narmadâ River in the field of Bhrigukaccha.

‘I will fulfill your wishes by seeking alms from Bali,’ replied the Lord.

The Lord took His water pot and parasol with Him. Goddess Sri Devi never left His chest cavity.  The Lord knew that as long as Goddess Sri Devi’s compassionate grace continue to fall on Bali, He would never be able to take away the property of Bali.

‘Please step down from my chest cavity for a while,’ asked the Lord.

‘What for? What are you up to now?’

‘You know that I have incarnated as a Brahmachari. It doesn’t look good if my wife is seen in my chest cavity.’

‘Whether you incarnate as a Brahmachari or not is your business. Even if you are a Brahmachari, I won’t leave your vakshashthalan,’ she stated firmly.

‘then I have to cover my chest with deer skin.’

‘Why?’

‘My Vakshashthalam is your anthapuram (annex in palace where the queen lives).  It should be kept private.’

Thus the Lord covered His chest with deer skin and proceeded to the Northern Bank of Narmada to the Yagna Sala of Mahabali Chakravarthi.

Mahabali was making large donations to the Brahmins. The entire area reverberated with Vedic Manthrams.  Mahabali looked resplendant along with his wife Vindhyavali. He did pada pooja of all Bagawathas and donated anything they wished to have.

Mahabali was very tall and being an Asura he was very well built. Lord Vamana approache Mahabali. At first Mahabali did not notice the Lord as He looked very tiny next to Mahabali. The Lord’s effulgence was noticed by the Brahmins and Sages who stood up in respect. At once Mahabali looked down and saw the beautiful child Vamana. Mahabali’s heart melted at the site of the radiant Brahmachari. He thought that, ‘ this Brahmachari would be a suitable groom for one of my daughters.’ With reverence Mahabali washed Lord Vamana’s feet and placed the holy water with reverence on his head.

‘Dear Brahmin,’ said Bali. ‘What do you seek from me? Do you need a bride? If so I can offer you my daughter’s hand in marriage. Do you need land, elephants, gold? Ask me anything you require without hesitation for I will definitely make sure your request is fulfilled.’

‘Give me three strides of land measured by my feet.’

‘I don’t think I heard you correctly,’ replied Bali. ‘Please repeat your request again.’

‘Give me three strides of land measured by my feet,’ repeated Lord Vamana.

‘Three strides of land?’ asked Bali looking at Vamana’s feet in disbelief. Lord Vamana was so short that all the regular dwarfs looked like giants in comparison. Bali chakravarthi felt humiliated. ‘Is this child making fun of me?’ thought Bali.

‘What is the use of three strides of land? Take my daughter’s hand in marriage,’ offered Bali. Even though he was annoyed by Lord Vamana’s request, he forgot his anger when he looked at the Lord’s effulgence.

‘I don’t want a bride,’ replied the Lord. ‘Either give me three strides of land measured by my feet or reneg on your promise!’

‘You are not fit to be a Brahmin,’ exclaimed Bali.

‘Why do you say so?’ asked the Lord as He pulled the deer skin over His chest tightly.

‘A Brahmin must know how to praise a king to obtain wealth. A Brahmin must be an expert in milking wealth from the rich but you on the contrary neither praised me nor did you seek wealth from me! What can anyone do with three strides of land?’

The Lord is used to being praised and hence He does not know how to praise others since He has no experience in singing praises of others. He is also the giver of all things. He has never been on the receiving side and hence didn’t know how to beg for alms. The Lord sacrificed His qualities by begging for land even though He is the one who gives things to everyone, He hid His quality of Nithya Grihasthan (eternal householder) by pretending to be a Brahmachari, He who is very tall and contains the Universe within Him incarnated as a dwarf and finally He tried to sing the praise of Bali. He did all of these in order to help His devotees.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/11/srimadh-bagawatham-vamanavataram-part-3.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Vamanavataram Part 1

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/10/srimadh-bagawatham-churning-of-milky_19.html

Vamana Avataram:

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In a Deva-Asura war Mahabali was badly defeated. Maha Bali after losing to the Devas, approached his Acharyan Sri Sukracharyar. As per the instruction of his Acharyan, he started to perform yagams and worshipped Lord Vishnu sincerely. Lord Vishnu soon blessed him. Thus Maha Bali became powerful as he had the Lord’s blessings which protected him like an armour. Maha Bali with his troops, once again attacked Swarka Lokam. 

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Brihaspathi the Acharyan of the Devas adviced them to retreat and abandon Swarka Lokam until a time when they too are able to get the Lord’s blessings. Soon the Devas had no home. Their mother Aditi felt very bad. She approached her husband Sage Kashyapar and asked him for a way to help her sons. (Sage Kashyapar is also the father of Asuras; the mother of the Asuras is Diti.) The Sage adviced Aditi to follow the payo vratham. She followed the vratham sincerely and was soon blessed by Lord Vishnu who incarnated as her son.

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The Lord appeared at noon on the twelfth day of the bright fortnight of Bhâdra. The moon was in the house of S'ravana; all the planets, the stars, the sun and moon were in a beneficial position. The exact moment was called as Vijayâ. He didn’t take birth but appeared before Kashyapa and Aditi! The key word here is “appeared”. He appeared as an infant wearing ornaments and weapons.

He appeared wearing makara kundalam; gold earrings shaped like sharks. His helmet was decked with precious gems. He was holding his discus, conch, mace and a lotus flower in each of his four hands. His 32 teeth looked like 32 moons! On his chest was the beautiful Srivatsa mark and on His navel the lotus with Brahma. His complexion was dark like the storm clouds; His colour was the blend of three water bodies; rain water, river water and well water. His eyes were long and beautiful like lotus petals. It looked as if he was a beautiful pond that contained thousands of lotuses; his eyes and lips resembled lotus petals, his feet and palms were tinted in a beautiful shade of lotus pink. His beautiful navel (nabhi kamalam) was a giant lotus that had once given birth to Brahma. His entire body felt soft to the touch like that of lotus petals. He was wearing yellow silk garments. His locks were curly and were jet black. It looked as if his locks had been made from threads obtained from the darkness of a new moon night. He was decked from head to toe in precious ornaments. He wore the beautiful kausthuba gem. The air reverberated with divine music. Even though it was noon it looked dark outside as his glow was like that of one billion suns and in comparison the sun light was dim. It was very bright inside Kashyapa’s ashram that in comparison it looked very dark outside. Aditi and Kashyapa stood mesmerized. The next second He hid his divine appearance from them and appeared before them as child Vamana; short in stature and as a brahmachari.

Soon Aditi and Sage Kasyapa performed the Jata Karma ceremony and the Lord was named as “Upendra” the younger brother of Devendra. Though He was called as Upendra, everyone addressed Him as “Vamana” which meant “dwarf” because of His short stature. Sage Kasyapa and Aditi performed the Upanayanam ceremony. All the rishis and celestial beings attented the event. The ceremony was held on an auspicious day. Waters from the four ocean was brought in large jugs. There were also waters from all the holy rivers. The sages and Brahmins chanted the manthrams. The wives of the Sages and the Goddesses looked very charming with tears of joy in their eyes as they watched the Supreme Being go through the ceremony. Lord Vishnu looked very charming as a young boy of seven. The radiance emitted by Him was so brilliant that everyone thought that He was the Sun but as His radiance had a cooling effect He looked like a Sun but with the colling nature of the Moon.

At His sacred thread ceremony the Sun god chanted the Gâyatrî mantra. Brihaspati presented the sacred thread. Kas'yapa offered Him a belt made of straw which is worn by a dwija.  Bhumi Devi presented Him a deerskin, the Moon gave Him an exquisite staff, Aditi gave Him vest to cover His body. Devendra game Him a beautiful parasol made of bamboo. Lord Brahma gave Him a waterpot, the seven sages donated kusa grass. Goddess Sarasvatî presented a string of rudrâksha beads. Goddess Parvati who is also Annapoorani gave Him alms with love. 

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/10/srimadh-bagawatham-vamanavatarm-part-2.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Churning of Milky Ocean Part 5

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/10/srimadh-bagawatham-churning-of-milky_18.html

Esoteric Meaning:

Srirangam Dhanvantari

 

The loss of Devendran’s wealth indicates that the wealth we see in this material world which is not permanent. Devendran goes in search of the permanent wealth called as “Nithya Sri”.

The milky ocean represents the heart of the knower. The ocean is compared to milk to show purity present in the knower in the form of Satva Gunam. Mount Mandara is the knower’s mind. The Devas are the senses while the Asuras are the bad inclinations which try to overpower the sense organs. Vasuki represents the breath when the knower performs pranayama. The knower has to control his/her senses along with the bad inclination by performing pranayama. This is shown as the Devas and Asuras cooperating with each other to churn the ocean using Vasukli wrapped around Mount Mandara. The knower is the jeevatma which does not have the capacity to control its mind. Therefore the mind keeps slipping away from the heart. The jeevatma seeks the help of the Lord per the Vedic teachings; Garudazhwar represents the Vedas and he always brings the Lord to the devotees. With the help of Vedic training/knowledge and the Lord’s grace the jeevatma is able to place its mind which is like a mountain in the heart ocean. The Lord is shown as Kurma the tortoise. The tortoise hides inside its shell and hence represents the antaryami who supports from within the jeevatma’s heart and helps the jeevatma to attain the supreme permanent wealth.

The poison which first comes out of the ocean represents doubts and ignorance present in the jeevatma’s heart; the jeevatma reuires the guidance of an Acharyan to dispel these doubts. Lord Siva is depicted as a tapasvi. He is the greatest amongst the knowers, the Bagawathas and is hence an Acharyan. It is said that all living beings who die at Kasi reach Moksham because Lord Siva chants the name of Lord Rama in their ears at the time of death. Hence Lord Siva holds the position of an Acharyan. He drinks the doubts which appear from the heart ocean as poison but as he has obtained the Supreme Knowledge, he is not affected by these doubts. This is shown by his neck turning blue to indicate that the poison did not affect him. He attained the name Nilakantan (the one with blue neck). This is also the name of a peacock which eats serpents. Serpents are poisonous creatures which are especially active at night but these serpents run away in front of the peacock. The serpents thus represent doubts; night is ignorance which melts away when the Sun/peacock Rudra appears before them.

The fight for the white horse between Devendra and Asura Bali is actually the fight between the knower and his senses. The knower tries to control his senses and only by over powering his senses is the knower able to obtain the white horse. The senses are bad when unbridled, but good when bridled. Once the senses are controlled, the knower is able to attain the Supreme Brahman as shown by Bali taking the white horse.

The word Ashwa is normally used to refer to a horse in Sanskrit but it is also a name for Lord Narayana. The word Ashwa means that which spreads everywhere. As the horse travels with great speed it looks to spread everywhere. Hence a horse was called as Ashwa but it is the name of Lord Narayana to indicate his omnipresence. White colour represents satvik tendencies and thus the white horses represents the purely satvik Brahmam.

The jeevatma finally obtains Brhma Vidhya in the form of Goddess Sri Devi who appears out of the ocean. The coronation ceremony of Goddess Sri Devi establishes her as the “Nithya Sri” the deity of the “Supreme Permanent Wealth” The jeevatma then performs the wedding of Goddess Sri Devi and Perumal. The jeevatma worships the Lord along with His consort. Sanathana Dharma requires its followers to worship the Divine Couple; seeking the blessing of only Perumal or of Thayar results in ruin. During Ramayana, Surpanakha sought Lord Rama alone and her nose was cut-off. Ravana sought Sita Piratti alone and he was killed in the battle. Vibhishana sought Lord Rama along with Sita Piratti; he attained the blessing of Perumal & Piratti. Vibhishanazhwan obtained nithya kaimkaryam as well as the kingdom of Lanka.

Thayar is the only one who has “purushakaram” i.e. she recommends to Perumal and asks Him to grant us Moksham. If we approach Perumal directly, He will refuse to grant moksham since He has instructed that we should live according to the shastras. He refuses to accept us till we are thrown in hell to purify our sins. Thayar intercedes on our behalf and makes Him accept us with our sins as she points out to Him that He will be unable to find a single person who is free of sins. She uses her sweet words to make Perumal overlook our sins. This is mentioned by Sri Parasara Bhattar in Gunaratna Kosam. She even threatens to overrule His decision and grants us Moksham if He Himself doesn’t accept us. Thus Thayar works to help us by representing our requests to Perumal. There are six reasons behind Thayar’s name as “Sri Devi”.

1.     She listens to our requests. This action is called as Shrunothi. The one who listens actively is named Sri. Perumal doesn’t listen to our requests as He has already reached a decision regarding our fate.

2.     She makes Him listen to our requests. This action is called as Shravayathi. The person who does this action is also known as Sri.

3.     She is very easily approachable. This is known as Shriyathe and hence her name is derived as Sri.

4.     She does prapatti at the Lord’s feet on our behalf. She is attained by us and this is called as Shrayathe. Thus her name can once again be derived as Sri.

5.     She removes our sins with her grace. This is called as Shrinathi and hence her name becomes Sri.

6.     She let’s us go along the path we have chosen even if it is wrong for us but she follows us closely and slowly leads us back on to the right path. This is Shrinathi and her name is derived as Sri.

Because of the above six actions performed by her, the number six is associated with her.

Swami Vedanta Desikan has mentioned about the above six qualities in his Tamil pasuram on Lord Devanayakan.

Only after obtaining the grace of Thayar as indicated by her appearance from the ocean of milk is the grace of Perumal obtained. Perumal appears as Dhanvantri with the elixir.

Lord Dhanvantri is the Celestial doctor.

Lord Vishnu is the Supreme Physician with the ability to cure all diseases. The worst incurable disease is Samsara. We are afflicted by birth death and re-birth. We go through this circle and suffer. We are unable to find a remedy to rid us of this terrible disease.The Lord in the form of Dhanvantari, gives us the elixir which is the medicine to cure our disease.

The elixir or knowledge which grants Moksham cannot be obtained by our bad inclinations. Hence only the Devas who represent the good qualities (as they are shown to obtain the Apsaras (symbol of good qualities) are shown to drink the elixir.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/10/srimadh-bagawatham-vamanavataram-part-1.html