Srimadh Bagawatham - Ramayanam Part 2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/12/srimadh-bagawatham-ramayana-part-1.html

 

http://www.pbase.com/svami/image/92276874  Thirupullani Dharba Sayana Ramar

The Ramayana is not a myth. It is actual historical event but we can find many Vedantic metaphors in Ramayana. Like a ring leader who puts up a show, Paramatma enacted Ramayana. By enacting Ramayana He has made it easier for us to learn the Vedantic meanings. In this day and age it is difficult for people to study the Vedas but it is easy for anyone to study the Ramayana. 

 The City of Ayodhya:

The human body can be compared to the city of Ayodhya with the nine gates. Like Ayodhya our body has nine openings through which the soul (we) can exit. King Dasharatha may represent our mind with the ten senses. With the help of our mind and by bringing our senses under control we must install Paramatma along with Goddess Sri Devi in our heart as our emperor. In the end Lord Rama takes all His citizens to Sri Vaikuntham. Paramatma when installed as the emperor in our heart will surely take us to Sri Vaikuntham at the time when we must leave our bodies behind.

The Ashwamedha Sacrifice: 

This is a sacrifice in which a horse is sacrificed.

King Dasharatha obtained Lord Vishnu the Supreme Brahman as his son by conducting the Ashwamedha Sacrifice. The word Ashwa has many meanings. It also refers to an empire or a nation. It refers to the Sun and letting the horse loose for a year symbolizes the Sun’s yearly travel. Ashwa also refer to our senses. The sacrifice of the horse mentioned in the Vedas is actually a sacrifice of the senses. The Vedas clearly state that animals are not to be slaughtered and actually sacrificed. The Srimadh Bagawatham also clearly states that anyone who sacrifices animals will go to a special kind of hell where the sacrificed animals will come and torment the sacrificer. Lord Vishnu prohibits animal sacrifices. Since King Dasaratha and Queen Kausalya obtained Lord Vishnu Himself as their son it can be safely claimed that they did not actually sacrifice a horse. If they had slaughtered a horse, they would have gone against the Vedas in which case they wouldn’t have obtained the divine grace of Lord Vishnu. The Valmiki Ramayana states that Queen Kausalya symbolically slaughtered the horse and spent a night with the dead horse. This verse actually means that she brought her senses under control and meditated on the Supreme Brahman throughout the night. The Valmiki Ramayana also states that in the morning “the horse flew away”. If the horse referred to here is an actual dead horse, how can it sprint away? The horse flying away could refer to the Queen who is the self; the self is released from the power of the senses and finds the Supreme-Self. Only substitutions in the form of plant matter are used in the enactment of this ritual. King Dasaratha performed this sacrifice properly as per the Vedas and was blessed to obtain Lord Vishnu as his son.

The Valmiki Ramayana is said to be a condensed version of the Vedas. It teaches Vedanta philosophy and emphasizes on the way to reach God. The Valmiki Ramayana also uses many symbols just like the Vedas to help people understand the Vedantic philosophy. As the subject matter dealt with is difficult to comprehend by regular people, the rishis used allegories to explain the difficult concepts.

Hence the Vedic texts did not mean actual sacrifice of horses but when the verses were read by people who did not grasp the actual meaning, the texts were translated to mean slaughter and sacrifice the horses.

 Who are Taraka, Maricha and Subahu?

Lord Rama killed two demons during His trip with sage Vishwamithra. He killed Taraka & Subahu. With His third arrow He chased Maricha. Taraka represents Avidhya or ignorance. Subahu & Maricha are the sons of Taraka. They represent the karmas we have committed because of the presence of Avidhya. He killed Subahu to show us that when we perform prapatti (surrender) to Him, He will kill all our Sanchita Karmas. He chased Maricha away from Vishwamitra’s yagna sala with an arrow; similarly, He will chase our Prarabhdha Karmas and prevent the accumulation of new Karmas by chasing them away from us. Karmas can be divided into two classes; Sanchita Karma & Prarabhdha Karma. Sanchita Karma is like a bank account. It contains all the papams (sin) and punyams (good deeds) we have accumulated in our previous births.

Prarabhdha Karma is like the money we withdraw from a bank account. At each birth, Paramatma assigns us a portion of karmas from the Sanchita Karma account so that we can spend it. We enjoy both the good and bad fruits yielded by the prarabhdha karma. We extinguish a portion of our total accumulated karmas in the form of Prarabhdha karmas at every birth. According to this eventually the sanchita and prarabhdha karma accounts should come to zero and we should be liberated from Samsara. But this is not the case. As we are undergoing the effects of Prarabhdha karma, our actions also cause us to accumulate new karmas. Paramatma saves us from this never ending cycle when we surrender to Him. He burns our accumulated karma and He drives away any new karmas. This is indicated when He killed Subahu but drove Maricha away. The importance of an Acharya is also shown here as it is sage Vishwamithra who requested Lord Rama to destroy Taraka, Subahu & Maricha. The blessings of a good Acharyan are required to perform prapatti to Sriman Narayana so that the Lord can destroy our ignorance as well as karmas.

References: Essays on Indo-Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyyangar

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/12/srimadh-bagawatham-ramavataram-part-3.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Ramayana Part 1

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/12/srimadh-bagawatham-parasurama-charitram.html

Ramayana:

Vaduvur Ramar

 

Morals in Ramayana: 

 Everyone knows the story of Ramayana; hence, let us concentrate on the morals to be learned from Ramayana and on the esoteric meaning of Ramayana.

Ramayanam is the dramatic version of Bagawad Geetha. Whatever Lord Krishna preached in the Bagawad Geetha, Lord Rama dramatized in Ramayana.

Balakandam: 

http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/Teachings/TheSpiritualMaster/tabid/94/Default.aspx

Lord Rama incarnated during Treta Yugam to re-establish the dharmam of obeying those who are older than us. There is no temple more superior to our mother and the words our father are the best manthrams in life. In Bala Kanda, Sri Rama agreed to accompany Sage Vishwamithra without arguing with his father.

 Ayodhya Kanda:

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In Ayodhya Kanda, Lord Rama has taught us to accept pain and pleasure with equal outlook. Lord Rama was happy when King Dasaratha informed Him about the plan to crown Him as the emperor.  Lord Rama was informed by His step mother Kaikeyi on the day of the coronation ceremony that Bharathan would be crowned as the next king and Lord Rama would have to go live in the forest for 14 years. Lord Rama did not feel sad or angry when He heard Kaikeyi’s words as He accepted both profit and loss equally. He was happy when He was told that He would inherit the kingdom and He still remained happy when He was told that He wouldn’t inherit the kingdom.  Lord Krishna preached the same concept in Bagawad Geetha when He instructed everyone to accept profit-loss and pain-pleasure equally.

Aranya Kanda:

           

smilemakerkrishna.blogspot.com

In Aranya Kanda Lord Rama has showed us the value of Sat Sangam. He has instructed us to stay close to Bagawathas and learn about Bhagawath Vishayams. We can find true joy only through Sat Sangam.

 Kishkinda Kanda:

Kishkinda Kandam: Throughout Ramayana Lord Rama treated His Bagawathas equally without discriminating between them based on caste/colour/race etc. He accepted the hunter Guhan as his friend, accepted the Vanara king Sugreeva and finally He accepted the Rakshashan Vibhishana who was the brother of the evil Ravana as His friends.  He treated His friends the same way He treated His brothers.

 Sundara Kandam:

Sundara Kandam speaks about Acharya Vaibhavam and the importance of an Acharyan in helping us reach the Lord’s divine feet. Lord Hanuman is the Acharyan while Sita Piratti is represented as the jeevatma longing to reach the Lord. Lord Hanuman was also unable to locate Piratti by his efforts. He could find Piratti only after praying to Perumal and Piratti to help him. Perumal and Piratti have to reveal themselves to us for us to be able to reach them. Our efforts don’t reach us to their divine feet but it is their grace which makes it possible.

Yudha Kandam: 

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The Yudha Kandam teaches us about forgiving our enemies. Lord Rama instructed Vibhishnazhwar to perform the last rites for Ravana because people should learn to let go off grudge when a person is dead. Does Lord Rama’s statement mean that He held a grudge against Ravana till the time Ravana was killed? No, Lord Rama’s statement means that Ravana hated Perumal only when he was alive; as soon as he died, the jeevatma which was previously in Ravana’s body no longer hated Perumal. Perumal always loved Ravana since He cares for all jeevatmas with love; it is because of His love for the jeevatma in Ravana’s body that he gave it many chances to repent its mistakes.

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Srimadh Bagawatham - Parasurama Charitram

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/11/srimadh-bagawatham-ganga-charitram-part_29.html

 One of the most discussed as well as misunderstood legend is that of Parasurama. I have come across many sites and literature which portray Parasu-Rama as a mass murderer inorder to besmear the Hindu religion. The Vedas and the Puranas are the source of knowledge. They never promote or say anything that is anti-social in nature. The verses are coded and contain the essence of Brahma-Vidhya; the knowledge required to reach the Supreme Being. They are coded so that only the worthy and those who have a thirst to learn the true knowledge can decode them. Hence the verses have a superficial literal meaning as well as a deeper esoteric meaning. The key to decode the meaning of the legend of Parasurama is as shown below.

We must first examine the lineage of Parasurama. He belongs to lineage of the Brighu Maharishis who are associated with Agni (fire). The Supreme-Self in our heart is also known as Agni. The Agni, who resides in the womb of our heart is Paramatma the Supreme-Self. The Brighu Maharishis are “knowers”, those who have realized the Supreme-Self in their hearts.

The father of Parasurama is called as Jamadagni. The name can be split into Jamat Agni which means the one who contains Agni. In this case it refers to Jamadagni as a knower seeking the Supeme-Self. Jamadagni’s wife is Renuka. It is said that she helps him when he practices shooting with arrow by fetching the arrow shot from his bow. Renuka represents Lady Faith who is always portrayed as the wife of the knower. It is only with the help of faith can one realize the Supreme-Being. Jamadagni with the help of his wife Renuka, who is lady faith, shoots the arrow toward Paramatma; the arrow is himself which is aimed towards the highest goal of attaining union with the Supreme-Self. Such a knower who has faith for his wife gets the Supreme Being as his son. This is indicated by Parasurama being the incarnation of Lord Vishnu who is the Supreme Being.

Rishi Jamadagni used to practice shooting with a bow and arrow. As soon as he shot the arrow, his wife would help him by fetching the arrow. Once, on a hot summer day his wife couldn’t bear the scorching heat of the Sun; seeing his wife suffer, the rishi was ready to curse the Sun to protect his wife. The Sun immediately appeared before the rishi to apologise. As the Sun could not stop shining, the Sun offfered an umbrella and a pair of sandals to the rishi’s wife. This incident shows us that even the Sun was afraid of the powers possessed by the rishi. The source of the rishis powers was his Vedic training.

 Matricide:

Once on her way to the river Renuka saw a handsome prince wearing lotus garlands sporting with his wives. Her heart was filled with desire. Upon her return Jamadagni came to know about her thoughts and ordered his sons to kill her. Jamadagni’s first 4 sons refused to kill her but Parasurama immediately followed his father’s decree. The pleased father requests Parasurama to seek a boon from him and immediately Parasurama wished for his mother to become alive. Jamadagni granted his wish and Renuka became alive. This story shows the immortal nature of Lady Faith. She saw the Supreme-Being in the form of the man with the lotus garland. She realized the Supreme-Being. Her being killed by Parasurama who is the Supreme-Being can be explained as her merging in the Supreme-Fire. Anyone who attains the Supreme-Being is unharmed and becomes immortal. This is represented when she comes back alive.

Mass Murder:

Once, King Kartavirya Arjuna paid a visit to Jamadagni’s ashram. There he saw a beautiful cow. Wishing to have that cow for himself, he kills Jamadagni and steals the cow. Parasurama comes to know about this heinous crime. He seeks revenge and annihilates Kartavirya Arjuna along with all the Kshatriyas who supported Kartavirya Arjuna. Parasurama then filled five lakes with their blood and offered their blood as offerings to his departed ancestors. The literal meaning is that of a man seeking vendetta. He took it upon himself to rid this Earth of corrupt rulers. The esoteric meaning reveals the actual essence of this legend.

The name Arjuna means white and can be said to represent the moon. The moon is called as Soma in Sanskrit. Soma exists in three forms which are; as the moon in the sky, as the Soma creeper, and as the king of forests (Vanaspathi) as wood.

During the Soma Sacrifice, when the Soma is made ready and brought to the sacrificial altar, the churned Agni is offered into the altar as sacrifice in honour of Soma. Jamadagni represents churned Agni. We have seen that Jamadagni means the one who contains fire. Fire is churned from wood called arani during sacrifices. Since fire is obtained from wood by producing friction, it is seen as a violent act and is indicated by Kartavirya Arjuna killing Jamadagni. Kartavirya Arjuna is Soma and he visits Jamadagni’s ashram and hence is the guest Soma brought for the sacrifice. The churned Agni is offered into the sacrificial fire and is shown by the death of Jamadagni. We have also seen that Soma is also present in wood as Vanaspathi. Hence the fire churned from wood can be said to be the son of Soma. The son of Soma represents the soul. By offering the soul in the blazing fire of knowledge, Kartavirya Arjuna is able to take the knowledge to reach the Supreme-Self in the form of cow. He is now pursued by the Supreme Brahman and is killed by the Supreme Brahman. Kartavirya Arjuna is the moon and the other Kshatriyas who accompany him are the stars. Parasurama is the Sun. Sun light can be fancied to kill the moon and the stars with its brightness. Alternatively, the Sun can be said to drink the light of the moon. The Soma juice has thousands of drops which are represented as the stars. The Sun drinking the light of the moon and the star can be said as drinking the Soma-juice. In other words this is the story in which the Moon is shown to sacrifice himself to reach the Supreme Brahman. During new Moon day, the moon is fancied as giving up his body to reach the Supreme Sun.

Parasurama is now said to have filled the five lakes with the Kshatriya blood and that he offered their blood as oblation to the departed ancestors. As we have seen that this is Soma-sacrifice and not a blood sacrifice, the five lakes are filled with Soma juice and not blood. The ancestors of Parasurama are the Brighu Maharishis who are eligible to drink the Soma juice. To give us a key that the lake was filled with only Soma juice Parasurama is shown to make an offering to his departed ancestors.

The filling of five lakes with soma juice by Parasurama, represent the real joy experienced by the five senses when we realize the Supreme-Being.

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