Lakshmi – Goddess of wealth

This weekend all of my family was busy preparing for Diwali – the festival of lights. We started with cleaning up the home, decorating it with lights and other artifacts. At the same time, we took out the Ganesh and Lakshmi idols for cleaning, so that we can perform the Diwali rituals. My daughter asked me the question – why do we worship Ganesh and Lakshmi? They aren't a couple and also didn't we perform Ganesh Chaturthi a few weeks ago? Why do we also have a third goddess – Saraswati in the images related to Diwali? Wonderful questions – I remarked, and got back to study harder. Let's see if I can do justice to her curiosity or arouse more?

Ganesh is worshipped by the virtue of the boon he received from Lord Shiva.

Lakshmi as we all know is the wife of Vishnu. She is the goddess of wealth and good fortune. We all strive to get her and probably lead our lives in quest for more of her. Remember the post where I talked of how Indra runs after Lakshmi and Lakshmi finds comfort in the feet of Vishnu. All through our lives we fight for her. Why? Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, prosperity and money as some call it. Lakshmi is symbolically denoted by water, gold, vegetation, elephants, lotus, owl and virtues.

The puranas talk about Lakshmi to have come out of the ocean (Kshirsagar) as a result of the samudra-manthan or the churn. Hence she is known to be a daughter of the sea. It is said that Lakshmi walked out of the ocean dressed in white with pot of wealth in her hand and a divine peace in her face. She overlooked everyone, walked over to Vishnu and put a garland around his neck. A lesser known fact is about Alakshami or Jyeshtha. Alakshmi or Jyeshha is considered to be the elder sister of Lakshmi. She is said to come out of the ocean dressed in blood red. Alakshmi is said to have emerged after the poison came from the churning of the ocean. Some also say that she was the product of the sweat or saliva from the snake Vasuki who was used as the rope to churn the ocean.

Alakshmi is attributed to everything opposite of Lakshmi – poverty or daridrata, fights or kalaha. She is said to have been disowned by everyone. Later listening to her plight, Sri Vishnu owned her and gave her equal status like Lakshmi thereby creating two sides of the same coin! Alakshmi is often considered to be embodied as the owl – the Lakshmi carrier.

From the above story about the Lakshmi, what we realize is when Lakshmi comes, Alakshmi follows. Lakshmi and Alakshmi come always together. While Lakshmi gives us the wealth, health and prosperity, Alakshmi pollutes the mind, home and creates situations for devastation. While Lakshmi is always welcomed and worshipped, Alakshmi is neither welcomed nor worshipped. But she always accompanies Lakshmi. How do we separate the two or rather reduce the effect created by Alakshmi? The answer is provided by Saraswati – the goddess of knowledge. Remember, Sarawati rides a swan. A swan is the only creature who can differentiate and separate milk from water. When we worship the goddess of knowledge, we get the power to distinguish between Lakshmi and Aalakshm and hence find ways to reduce the impact of Alakshmi. This is the reason for worshipping Lakshmi and Saraswati together. Lakshmi is never worshipped alone for the fear of Alakshmi.

Now we ask the question, we all study hard to be engineers or doctors or whatever and yet we do not gain Laksmi? What went wrong in our worship for Saraswati? The answer is simple! You got what you asked for! One studies not for knowledge but to earn Lakshmi. And hence you are not really worshipping Saraswati but another form of Lakshmi – VidyaLakshmi. Unless you gain blessings from Saraswati, there is no savior from Alakshmi.

I wonder how many of us have figurines of elephants in our house. Do we know why?

Violence - where does it all starts?

Tune in into any channel or read any newspaper. You will be looking at innumerable news filled with violence in many forms –political, poverty, castes, racism, domestic and even sex. The first thing I would have thought was disgust and anger for the one who inflicted violence. At the same time, the feeling for sympathy comes in for the victim.

I have often asked where does the violence starts? Is it only the result of the social or poverty injustice or is it inbuilt part of the human nature? I guess both. While there has been a great deal of discussion on the former reasoning, I shall work on the later part here!

Imagine a forest with a tiger and a deer. The deer is running all over chased by the tiger. Finally when the tiger catches the deer, the tiger rips the deer with it claws and tears the flesh of the deer’s skin with its teeth. The tiger savors the deer and then moves on looking for another prey another day. A violent story, ain’t it? I say NO.  This is the story of the survival. The tiger has to kill the deer for itself to survive. The deer has to run and save itself or else it will be killed.

Now let’s talk of another story – King Shibi and the dove. This story is very famous in both the Hindu scriptures as well as the Buddhist Jataka tales.

Once upon a time, king Shibi was very famous for his generous and altruistic character. Once a dove flew into the lap of the king looking for shelter. The dove was being chased by an eagle. The king immediately granted sanctuary to the dove. The eagle then cried foul and asked the king to feed his hunger. The king offered the food for eagle weighing equal to the dove. No food in the entire kingdom could match the dove’s weight. Finally Shibi started to cut himself in order to feed the eagle.

In one version of the tales, the eagle and the dove transformed into the gods and praised Shibi. Shibi was then offered a way to heaven.

In the other version, the eagle then stopped Shibi and called him fool. Enraged, Shibi asked him the reason for such salutation? The eagle explained – “If you take the dove away from me, you may save the dove but my family would die of hunger. If you give your body to me, what happens to my hunger tomorrow? Who would save this dove from me tomorrow? Who would take care of your kingdom tomorrow? Who would take care of the subjects and ensure a better life for tomorrow? Saving the dove is great, but is also against the nature. It’s the wish of the god who made dove weak and gave an eagle the hunger for the dove.”

This similar idea is also displayed in the Vishnu Purana – “Matsya Avtar” through the “Matsyay Nyay” or the rule of the wild. The big fish easts the small fish to survive and any disruptions in this cycle would lead to devastations as experienced by Manu. The great Manu was approached by a small fish and the fish requested – save me from the bigger fishes today and someday I shall save you. Manu took the fish to his home and kept her in a small vessel. The fish outgrew the vessel and many more with time while Manu kept transferring her to the bigger one. Manu couldn’t believe that his small fish has become the big fish now and can fend for itself. Finally one day when Manu couldn’t hold her in the pond or the lake or the river, had to let go of the fish in the sea. This was the time of the great deluge or “Pralay”. The Vishnu purana says that the same fish came to save Manu and his family’s boat. This fish was the first embodiment of the Lord Vishnu. This story teaches two concepts for the early mankind – empathy and the law of the jungle.

Thus violence for me is also the need for survival. The humane in us should be able to judge when the need subsides and when the cruelty starts.

 

 

Swarga – The heaven

The hindu scriptures are full of the mention of a place called "Swarga" or the heaven. The place – highly revered, is the ultimate aim of every human being. The demons fight with the gods all the time to gain access to the heaven. Also, even the gods when banished or exiled from the heaven try their best to get back. What is so special about the place called "Swarga"?
Swarga is a place where one goes when they have led their life rightfully and have done enough good deeds to earn their place in the heaven. One goes there to find the most important things –

1. Kalpavriksha or Kalpataru – The tree that showers anything you wish
2. Akshya Patra – The bowl that overflows with gold and food without an end
3. Chintamani – The gem that relieves all your worries
4. Kamadhenu – The cow which gives all you ask for
5. And obviously the ever beautiful apsaras

At the same time, we know that the king of swarga is Indra. A strong king but an anxious, nervous, fearful being who gets trembling as soon as some king on the earth performs a yajna. When any demon start coming to the doors of swarga, Indra gets worried. When a rishi performs a tapa, Indra is worried and tries to send his apsaras to lure the rishi away. What is he worried of? Indra is worried of losing the control of swarga. And when he or the gods can't control the situations or in case of defeat they run to the savior for help.
Let's draw a parallel into our own lives.
Think of your own organization or business. Every one of us is looking for at least the first four elements of swarga. They are all looking for an infinite source of investment, a never dying hunger for their products or services, absolutely no worries of competition or of resource problems. In our own different ways we all act like Indra and take on tensions and issues on our head which should be let go since we can't do much about them. Our focus should be in converting ourselves from Indra to the savior "Vishnu" as the time demands.
Always remember, while Indra craves for Lakshmi, she sits by the foot of Vishnu.

What do you eat?

Ain't that a popular saying? And probably true too. What you eat, reflects on you in various manners. However, I want to share a different perspective on the food and the way it is served. Once again, the thought is borrowed and is being reproduced with my touch below. I would like to give away the credits to Mr Devdutt Pattnaik – a great thinker and a wonderful storyteller.

I was watching the Masterchef program and I was amazed at how the participants prepared the four course meal and also how they prepared the regional cuisine thali's. I started thinking the difference in the Thali and the four course meal. When a four course meal is served, the cutlery and the plates are laid out on the table. The chef or the server then brings out one course at a time and you are supposed to eat it using the utensils laid out in the manner from outside working towards in. You are expected to eat the served food with minimum alterations – adding salt or pepper. Every course is brought on after the previous one is finished and taken away.

Contrastingly, the thali is served with all the food served at once. Though the chef prepares different items in the thali with different recipe, you still have the liberty to pick and choose the items you want to eat in any order you wish. Not only you can eat different items in any order, you can also mix multiple items together to create a new flavor.

Analyzing the two different foods above, you see an example of controlled release wherein you control the way your product is utilized. The product is not customizable, but is easy to use and provides satisfaction even while controlling the user behavior. The other example is of a product which provides the features, but allows the users to customize itself and use it in any manner they wish. The customizability can lead to a situation wherein the originator can't even identify with the end product. Let's see if you can identify examples of both these kinds?

Brahma’s fifth head

Brahma the creator of the universe is always seen with four heads. All of us must have heard different stories upon the significance of the four heads of Brahma. Some one says that the four heads represent the four "yugas" or the largest measure of time. Some say the heads are in four different directions to be able to see all around and be omniscient and omnipresent.

What is lesser known is that Lord Brahma was known to have five heads. There are two propagated stories depicting how the fifth head of Lord Brahma was lost.

Story 1

Brahma had the fifth head of a donkey. Once there was a war amongst the gods and the asuras. The gods were in a winning situation and the defeated asuras were fleeing away from the battlefield. Just then the gods realized that the donkey head of Brahma started calling out to the asuras requesting them not flee. The donkey head offered help to the asuras and told them ways to fight and defeat the gods. All the gods were furious at this display and requested Vishnu's intervention. The gods requested Vishnu to cut the fifth o the donkey head of Brahma. While Vishnu granted this wish, he also warned that if the chopped head falls down, the entire universe would be destroyed. The gods then requested Shiva to hold the chopped head of Brahma and he agreed. The place where Shiva finally rested the chopped head of Brahma is known as Rudratirtha, near Badrinatha.

Story 2

Brahma created various creatures, god, asuras, facets of life and nature. Finally he created a woman and named her Shatarupa – one who takes a hundred forms. He was fascinated with this creation of his. His fascination with Shatarupa was so great that he became obsessed with her. He could leave her out of his sight. She tried to escape Brahma's gaze by moving in different directions, and Brahma grew heads to keep her in sight. Then Shatarupa ascended upward hoping to escape, but then Brahma grew the fifth head facing upwards. Shatarupa then requested Shiva for help. Here are two versions on how Shiva helped –

• Version 1 – Shiva cut off Brahma's head and held it on his trident. He then rested the trident in Rudratirth.
  
• Version 2 – Shiva unleashed Rudra on Brahma. Rudra was also Brahma's creation. Rudra then destroyed Brahma's head by his claws and beak.
  

Since Brahma felt ashamed of the sin he committed towards his own daughter – Shatarupa, he is ever since chanting Vedas to absolve himself of the sins.

The moral of either stories is that when an organ or a person starts becoming a nuisance and is not performing upto the requirements, it's better to cut it off. We need to understand the purpose to realize the bigger perspectives than smaller gains or losses. Always realize what you need, what you can do than being happy or sad on little gains.

 

Ravana’s ten heads

On the occasion of Dussehra, I watched burning Ravana's effigy. The kids were excited and the crowd was enthralled. The entire celebration was construed as a fair. We even joked around that Ravana could never wear a round neck t-shirt or didn't need any one for chorus! Great enjoyment, but then the questions arose. Is there a man with ten heads? How would a man with ten heads look like? What are those ten heads? How would they behave? Do the ten heads speak on their turn or all at the same time?

Ravana's heads are best described in Anand Neelkantan's "Asura: Tale of the vanquished". He goes on to explain the ten heads as embodiment of the ten base emotions –

1. Anger
   
2. Pride
   
3. Jealousy
   
4. Happiness
   
5. Sadness
   
6. Fear
   
7. Selfishness
   
8. Love
   
9. Ambition
   
10. Mind (Devoid of all the above factors)
    

Ravana was educated that the nature gave him one head for the purpose of keeping only the tenth quality and not the first nine. A person with only the tenth head is slated to rise and shine.

Ravana did question the suggestion of 9 heads; and provide wonderful logic. Let's see how much we grasp and where?

Playing a devil's advocate, let me tell you the other part of the story –

• A misdirected anger can be harmful. Anger blinds your judgment. However, should you not be angry when you see the injustice? Should you not utilize your anger to electrify your emotions and push you into the right direction?
  
• Why shouldn't you be proud of your achievements? You worked hard and did you best. Why shouldn't you recognize your efforts?
  
• Jealousy motivates us. It helps us moving ahead. What's the harm in a healthy competition?
  
• Equanimity in sadness and happiness is close to being inhumane. How can you not be sad or happy for a loved one if not yourself?
  
• Why shouldn't you be afraid of death? Why shouldn't you plan for your loved ones after your death? We fear death not because we will be gone, but for our loved ones.
  
• You have gained a lot through sweating, Shouldn't you protect your gains? Why should your protection be called as selfishness? Selfishness – often leads to building empires. Shouldn't you be selfish and build something that others cherish?
  
• Whys shouldn't you love? Why should love be a base emotion? If so, why does a mother loves the child? Why should god love the humans?
  

Being able to draw a thin line and acknowledging is a true meaning of Vijayadashmi to me.

Let's ask ourselves, which head did we curb this Dussehra? Which Ravana did we kill this year? If we didn't are we qualified enough to celebrate the festival or burn the effigy of a person who was way more learned than us?

Rules

How many number of times would you have felt frustrated with some rules? And while in the same frustration mode, you would have exasperatedly questioned "who hell made that rule?"

This happens to all of us. Different time, and different place but to all of us.

Rules represent a manner in which each behavior must happen. Rules define boundaries to every code of conduct and define the parameters. The parameters (or metrics in the management terminology) are the basics to judgment. This classifies whether the conduct on the scales of morality, justness and righteousness.

We all follow the rules as they are everywhere. There is a rule for even our basis existence. Rules slowly become the laws, through enforcements. Our rituals are also rules followed by us in view of pleasing the gods.

Let's try to understand the origin of the rules. The rules are constructed as guidelines for behavior to uphold the principles. Having said this, I would also stress on the fact that the rules are bound with time and place and hence are circumstantial. Anything which is circumstantial is temporary. Consider this example – A north indian meal focusses on a wheat bread and puts rice in a bowl to add the taste. A south indian meal on the other hand focuses on the varieties of rice and provides wheat bread on the side. This ritual or a custom is based on the fact that paddy is grown in Southern India and wheat is grown in Northern India.

In our own quest for being known as a good person, we just follow the rules without understanding the underlying principle. Thus keeping the letter of the law we miss the intent. Are we becoming like Duryodhana, Dhritrashtra and Bhishma? They followed the law that could do whatever to their slave and yet disrobed their own daughter-in-law in front of everyone?

It was the rule of the "Raghukul" which Rama followed and went to exile. It was also the law of the land for the king to have a wife of remarkable reputation. Since a lowly citizen of Rama Rajya raised a finger on Sita's reputation, a pregnant lady was sent to the forest. Was following the rule right?

Rama followed his father's request and went to exile. This way he not only creates an empire but also cleanse the earth of the unruly asuras. Bhishma also follos his father's wish and creates a dynasty that led the whole India to the most bloody war. Following your father's wish or command is a rule. Is this rule right?

Rules are helpful in taming the desires and ambitions of the mighty over the meek. They help the meek to survive. But aren't they also hampering the free will of the mighty? Could be the mighty may provide a net new way of leading the life? An interesting comment from Devdutt Pattaik is "Rules don't make Ram Rajya. Rules make tamed animals".

I believe the principle is more important than the law or the rule itself.

The hindu dharma – based on the Vedic literature talks about principles and not rules or rituals or laws. The biblical, judeo-islamic cultures however, do talk of the set of rules dictated by the god himself or his messenger. I, in no way am qualified to question the righteousness of any of the rules. But understanding the principle and the circumstances that led to the rule will make it easy to follow whatever you want.

Finding Nemo

Quite an interesting name for my first ever blog.

Interesting since it reminds every one of the movie and its iconic place in the heart of almost all the kids and the indefatigable search of a father for his son.

Though my blog is not related to the movie and definitely doesn't swims under the ocean, but it is also an indefatigable search for the self. (I leave the judgment for the word – indefatigable to you).

I believe that life has a purpose. Everything we do or happens is for a purpose. It is the search for that purpose, which drives me.

I am sure that this blog would be confusing to you at times and probably may make no sense. But I would try to remain true to myself and record the search as it happens.

Reading or not – is your choice. Writing is definitely mine!

Did Yudhishthir go to heaven?

In the last few chapters of Mahabharata, "Svargarohanika Parva" to be precise, Veda Vyasa introduces a nice little story. And as we understand that every story has a moral or a purpose.

After the Mahabharata war, Pandavas ruled their kingdom for 36 years. In the 36^th year, the desire for giving up and moving to the heaven took on them. All the five brothers and their wife – Draupadi started to climb the mountain which was to take them to the heaven or "Swarg". On the way, all four brothers and Draupadi died leaving Yudhishthir alone on his journey.

Upon reaching the heaven, Yudhishthir saw his 100 Kaurava cousins in there but neither his Pandava brothers not his wife Draupadi. He felt anguish in him and charged the gods that they were being unfair by giving heaven to Kauravas and denying the same to his brothers and wife. This anguish shone on him like anger.

He charged the gods for being unfair and giving heaven to treacherous, murderous, unjust Kauravas.

The gods then asked him, what did he do to go to heaven?

Yudhishthir reminded them of the rightful, just life he led. He told them how he upheld the Dharma or the principles throughout his life. He told them of all the sacrifices he made during his journey to the heaven – his kingdom, personal riches, chariots even clothes. He told them that he never turned back even when his most beloved wife and his brothers passed away. He let go of everything that was dear to him.

"Everything" – The gods exclaimed, and asked the reason for his anguish and anger for the Kauravs?

Yudhishthir realized.

He had given up all his worldly possessions.

He had given up all his relations.

He had given up all his desires.

He hadn't given up his hatred for the Kauravas.

He hadn't forgiven the Kauravas.

He hadn't given up on his anger.

He hadn't 'let-go' of all that happened even after 36 years.

Once Yudhishthir understood this, he bowed to the gods and asked for forgiveness. He was told that the heaven image he saw was an illusion to make him realize.

 

But again the question is, did Yudhishthir really go to heaven? Did he stay there? Forever?

Update – I realized I missed writing my own interpretation on this.

To me the purpose of this story was "Forgive" and "Let Go". One does not only holds the worldly possessions and relations. But also the thoughts. We need to clear ourselves of the thoughts as well when cleansing ourselves. In my view this is what Yudhishthir missed.

There is one more story that showcases agony of the anger. I shall write that again later.