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