Upanishads – their formation and crux

The Upanishads are a collection of Vedic texts, also known as Vedanta and are considered to contain the revealed truths about the ultimate reality – brahman and the character and the form of human salvation – moksha. While more than 200 Upanishads are known, the first dozen are considered to be the oldest and the most important, thus referred to as principal or mukhya Upanishads.

Ever guessed when and how were they formed?

So the story dates back to Sri Rama's father Dasharatha. Dasharatha had a daughter – Shanta – elder to Sri Rama. When the kingdom of Anga faced severe draught the king Rompada approached Dashratha and offered to adopt Shanta and marry her off to Sage Rishyashringa. This was to break Rishyashringa's celibacy and his father Vibhandaka's urge to control nature. Vibhandaka had realized the cycle of life and how the new life was created through the seed. He realized that no living beings had control over shedding their seed except humans. He understood that through holding the life bearing seed inside the human body, one can create great power in oneself. This is controlling the nature and rising above the mad race that nature imposes on every living being. The self control is known as Tapasya and it generates Tapa or heat. So strong was Vibhandaka's tapasya that Indra had send an apsara to break him. Vibhandaka couldn't control himself when he saw the apsara. He considered his son as a result of his failure and hence kept him close away from the world and women. Not only he controlled himself, he controlled his son's nature too. Their controlling of the nature caused enough heat and caused draught all over the region where they lived. Rompada requested Shanta to woo Rishyashringa and break this control and bring rains to the kingdom. Rishyashringa and Shanta married, brought joy upon themselves and the nearby kingdoms. Rishyashringa later helped Dashratha in the yagna to get sons. And thus Rama, Bharat, Lakshmana and Shatrughna were born. At every step, we see how the nature was controlled or was made to change its course to meet the needs of the king and the people.

About the same time of the birth of the princes in Ayodhya, Janak of Mithila found a daughter in Sita and his wife Sunaina gave birth to Urmila. His brother Khushdhwaja also had two daughters – Mandavi and Shrutakirti. While everyone in Janaka's court requested him to conducted yagna to obtain sons just like Dashratha, he replied that mother earth gave him a daughter in the same manner as the fire gave Dashratha his sons. Impressed with his approach, a female ascetic Sulabha approached Janaka and requested him to conduct a congregation of learned people all over the land. She explained to Janaka that humans have the capability to imagine and think and take different perspectives on the same point! She explained that the mind should be expanded to understand nature than control it by containing it as Vibhandaka and Rishyashringa did. Inspired by her words, Janaka invited all the learned people and rishis of Aryavarta to his court and share their knowledge of Vedas. This conference allowed exchange of ideas, opinions and beliefs and thus formed the basis of what we today known as Upanishads. It is interesting to note that this was the education that Sita and her sisters received. It was during this conference that we also hear about Ashtavakra, Gargi and Yagnavalkya. Gargi asked questions about pupose of everything that irked many sages and they cursed her that her head would fall off. But her hunger of knowledge kept growing another head when one fell off.

During the conference, Yagnavalkya explained – "Atma is the brahman, a fully expanded mind. Atma is the mind that does not fear death or yearn for life. It does not seek validation. It witnesses the world as it is. Atma is Ishwar, also known as Shiva, who performs tapasya, is self-contained and self-sufficient. Atma is bhagavan, also known as Vishnu, who conducts a yagna to nourish everyone even though he needs no nourishment. May Brahma's head keep falling off till he finds the brahman".

This retelling has been adopted from Dr Devdutta Pattnaik's book – "Sita". In my wake for learning, I hope I found something that we all can benefit from.

Change comes from within

During the twelve years of exile, the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi roamed around different forests and came in contact with many sages. The sages helped them by telling stories of their ancestors and of importance that had far reaching impact on their thoughts. In a way, the sages were helping the Pandavas grow as leaders. In their early years, with all the education and fun, the Pandavas had grown to be good warriors, administrators and providers. The exile years are considered as the bridge between the princes to the common man that gave birth to great rulers. However, the sages were not the only ones to have taught the Pandavas.

In the period of exile, Arjuna once met a forest dweller Kirata, who challenged Arjuna to show his skill and claim the prize. Despite using all his skills, Arjuna could not come close to Kirata. Finally, Arjuna realized that he was no ordinary human being and prays the Kirata to reveal his true being. Upon surrendering himself, Arjuna then realizes the Kirata to be Shiva who taught him the lesson of humility. Later Shiva praised Arjuna and gifted him his own "Pashupatastra".

In another story, Bhima once brought a divine looking flower to Draupadi in his attempt to appease her. She is pleased but demand more flowers of this kind. The sages suggested that the flowers came from the heavenly lake up above the mountains. Bhima climbed the mountains in search of the flowers. On his way he found an old monkey lying on the path. Since it is considered rude to walk over someone, Bhima asked the monkey to move away. The monkey requested Bhima instead, telling him of his ill health. Bhima who is considered by all and himself the mos powerful of all, could not move even the monkey's tail. Having realized that the monkey is not ordinary, Bhima prayed to the monkey. It was no other than Hanuman who had come to teach the lesson of humbleness to Bhima.

One day while wandering in the forest, Draupadi saw a jamun tree and one mouthwatering ripe jamun fruit close to the ground. Instinctively, Draupadi reached out and plucked the jamun. As she did so, the tree cried as to what had she done? The tree was holding the fruit for 12 years for the sage who had been meditating without food or water for nearly the same time. The sage was to wake up from his meditation this day and eat the fruit. Now Draupadi deprived the sage of the fruit, he waited for twelve years. Draupadi asked her husbands to help put the jamun back in its place. But no one could. The tree again said, Draupadi could do so if she was chaste and was true to her husbands. Much to the astonishment of the Pandavas, they realized Draupadi harboring a secret in her heart. She spoke of her yearning for Karna. Had she not insulted Karna and married him, all the insults to her would have been saved. Pandavas though angry about her secret, were ashamed of having failed her collectively. Hence kept quiet. As Draupadi shared her thoughts and having cleansed her heart, she was chaste again and was able to fix the fruit back in its place.

Bhima was once captured by a python who kept encircling him and wanted to eat him. The python knew how to speak. He said that he was looking for Yudhishthra as he can provide answers to the queries and absolve him of his sins. The python was King Nahusha. When Yudhishthira came to Bhima's help, Nahusha posed him the question – "Who is a Brahman". Yudhishthira thought and replied "A Brahman is one who has mastered his senses, disciplined his mind and learnt Brahma-Vidya, who has attained knowledge of infinite eternal and boundless soul. A brahman is one who is content, generous, and gentle and is always with truth. He may or may not be the one who is born to a Brahman."

In another story, four of the pandava brothers collapsed on the ban of an enchanted lake. They refused to acknowledge the lake's guardian and tried to quench their thirst. Yudhisthira acknowledged the guardian and answered the questions wisely. (We will delve into the questions in the later blog). The guardian was no other than the god of dharma – Yama. At the end, Yama asked him to choose one brother whose life could be granted. Yudhisthira thought again and asked for Nakula. His reason being Nakula was the son of Madri and hence both the wives of Pandu shall have one of their sons living. Yudhishthira had not shown the same thought during the game of dice. He had gambled Madri's sons in the first chance. He had not even thought of any consequences earlier. Clearly something had changed!

All of the above stories, humbled and taught the Pandavas. They changed, matured and became better during their period of exile.

Some say the stories are a work of fiction. Some even laugh at the events or characters in the story.

But look at the idea carried in each story. What we learn from here is that the change comes from within. All the external factors or situations are the triggers that help us understand the need for the change. It is us who have to change and we decide how much and how? We control our own destiny through the path we choose. Its not the situations but us who decide how we fare. The success or the failure is always relative depending on one's perspective of the scenario and their decisions. At the same time, since one controls their destiny and only theirs, no one can change the world without changing oneself. Hence, in order to bring a change, one needs to change.

Karna’s Death

Mahabharata has many stories and many heroes. Some of the stories have been narrated to us from ages and are imbibed into our beliefs. However, there are a few stories that have lost the attention even though they have carried enormous amount of knowledge and meaning for all of us.

One such story is of the greatest warrior Karna. Karna’s archery skills were as illustrious as his teacher Parashurama and other students of his teacher – Bhishma and Dronacharya. Having learnt the art of war from Parashurama himself, he was second to none. His skills were noted even by Bhishma and Sri Krishna. He was acknowledged as undefeatable and surpassed Arjuna on many counts except one – Sri Krishna’s closeness. Along with being a great warrior he was a great man of principles too. Devotion and principles were just as great assets to himself as his weapons.

It was his devotion to his friendship that made him stand in the court of Hastinapur when Draupadi was disrobed. An act, that Karna regretted throughout his life. It was his devotion that kept him on the side of Duryodhana, despite all his wrongdoings and knowing that Pandavas were his brothers. At his death, Kunti and Sri Krishna told Pandavas to pay respect to their elder brother Karna.

Arjuna cried asked for forgiveness from Karna’s wife Uruvi and requested to perform the list rites for his brother. Uruvi, then asked Arcjuna not to mourn or repent for killing Karna for he was killed at least 6 times before Arjuna. Let’s see how -

 

Guru Parashurama’s curse

Once Parashurama rested in the forest keeping his head in Karna’s lap. At that time a bee started to bite and probe into Karna’s thigh. He sat unnerved even when the bee kept drilling him so as not to disturb his teacher’s sleep. When Parashuram woke up and saw the lacerating wound on Karna’s thigh, he became angry for Karna having hidden his identity of being Kshatriya or the warrior class as others are incapable of bearing such pain. He cursed Karna that he would forget all his knowledge just at the time he needed it most.

 

Angry Brahmin’s curse on killing of his cow

Once Karna was practicing his archery skills and shooting upon the slightest of sounds. During his practice, he mistakenly killed a brahmin’s old wailing cow. The Brahmin cursed Karna that just as his cow was helpless when she died, he shall be helpless at the time of his death.

 

Mother Earth’s curse

Once Karna saw a young girl crying in the village market. Upon asking she told that she was to buy ghee or vegetable oil and take it home. However, the pot fell down and the ghee was impure now. Even when Karna offered to buy a new pot, she insisted on the same impure ghee to be taken home. Karna then took the ghee from the ground and squeezed it hard to remove the impurities. The girl was happy to get what she wanted. But then Karna heard another woman’s gurgled cry. Upon opening the palms of his hand, he saw the mother earth or Bhudevi being strangled through his squeeze. She then cursed Karna that she shall squeeze hold him and he would be stuck in the earth sometime.

 

Indra stripping Karna of his kavacha and kundala

It is well known that Karna was the son of the Sun or Surya. While Arjun was the son of Indra. Karna was born with an undefeatable armor and earrings as gift from Sun god which protected him from all evil. When it was inevitable that Krana and Arjuna would see each other in duel and there would only be one survivor, Indra plotted to strip Karna of his armor and earrings. A man of principles and generosity, Karna never allowed anyone to return empty-handed from his home in the morning. Indra disguised as a Brahmin visited him just then and asked for the gifts from the Sun god. Despite being warned by the sun, Karna did not deviate from his principles and gave what the Brahmin asked for. And thus he became vulnerable to Arjuna’s weapons.

 

Kunti’s love for her son

Kunti was Karna and the rest of Pandava’s mother. However she hid the fact of Karna’s birth all the time to save her own skin. When the Mahabharata war was inevitable and Karna was identified as an undefeatable warrior on the Kaurava side, she went upto Karna and told him the story of his birth. Karna always had a soft corner for his mother and always wanted her to accept as her child. He wanted to tell the world that he was indeed a warrior class and not a shudra. In his love for Kunti, he promised that Kunti shall always have 5 sons and he would not harm anyone but Arjuna. Thus at the end of the war either he or Arjuna shall be the survivors.

This was a great promise from Karna to Kunti. Apparently, this was not enough for Kunti. She also took another promise from Karna – possibly the most dreaded one. She asked him never to use the same weapon twice. Thus even when he was gaining an upper hand at Arjuna, he could not use his godly weapons as his promise to Kunti prevented him.

 

Shalya’s role

Shalya was a great charioteer. He was in fact a master of horses. He was also Nakul and Sahdev’s maternal uncle under whose supervision, Nakul became a great horseman. Shalya never wanted to be charioteer to Karna considering him to have born in the lower caste. Upon insistence from Duryodhana, he accepted the job half-heartedly. He was supposed to be equal to Krishna’s skills in guiding the chariot. Even though, Shalya admired Karna’s devotion to his friend, war principles and bravery he refused to help when Karna’s chariot was stuck in the earth during the final battle.

All the six anecdotal stories exemplify one super power above everything – destiny. We all try our best and do our best too. But, sometimes it is not enough. Call it “Karma” or “destiny” or “god’s will” there is something beyond which controls and overpowers everything. What is it?

I hate you because I do not know you

I was listening to the radio this morning and was stuck with a nice quote – “I hate you since I do not know you.” Quite true, isn’t it?

In the last few weeks, I read Rajiv Malhotra’s “Being Different” and listened to my all-time favorite Dr Devdutt Pattnaik. While their story telling is a little different, the central idea remains the same – “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” and the measure of ugliness or beautifulness actually represents the mental state of the observer not the subject itself.

Love, Hope, Fear, Hate are all the different attributes of human emotions that come into play when different people come in contact. Different mixes of these emotions help one formulate their stand during the interaction. This is the same concept as commonly referred to as “Stereotyping” or “Forming Opinions”. The interesting point however is which emotion is stronger?

Like it or not the first default reaction of a human towards anything is of Fear. The fear of the unknown – possibly the largest and the most well-known emotion to mankind. Many a studies have suggested that the human mind is very capable of understanding and remembering ideas that stem from comparisons. It is easier to digest and assimilate the information when presented in a tabular format than a textual format. Images that exhibit comparative information are most liked in communication means. Note that all the different pieces of information utilized help one to understand. The more information available, the better comprehensible is the subject and thus infuses a comfort factor in the minds of the observer.

All humans are capable of the great powers of imagination. However to provide a structure to their imagination, one develops frameworks of ideas and beliefs. The framework keeps changing as well with levels of maturity and information. Everything that happens must fit inside the framework else it causes stress and grief to the one who houses them.

Applying the same understanding towards others, we can easily comprehend that anything unknown is fearsome and hence loathed. This also includes concepts that are a little difficult or are not easily fitted into the well-established frameworks in one’s mind.

Rajiv Malhotra goes to great lengths describing how different incomprehensible structures have often been discarded. But is that right? Being different is no wrong. Just because I do not conform to your framework, does not means that I am wrong. I may be complying with someone else’s framework or probably my own! How do I say what is right and what is wrong? In the story of Shabri, Rama explains his brother Lakshmana not to judge Shabri by their standards as she is neither exposed to their level of thinking or upbringing.

Recognizing differences and acceptance of diversity helps one expand their horizons.

Overcoming one’s primary reaction of fear or hatred towards the unknown makes one an entrepreneur in all aspects. One who is ready to embrace world with utmost zeal and excitement, and I ready to change all around him with all of their energy. Such a person pleases himself and everyone around him.

Maa

On the occassion of Mother's Day, I would like to share a few lines that I read long ago. These words are powerful and meaningful. so HANDLE WITH CARE

माओं को 

मखमल पे रखो 

झूला दो 

फूलों पे 

वे हैं आज 

मगर होंगी कल ना 

सोचो तब 

क्या क्या 

खो जाएगा 

जीवन से ?

सोचो ना !

फिर

सोचो 

What do you see?

Once Dronacharya sent Yudhisthira and Duryodhana to go in the city of Hastinapura and bring to him the most corrupt of all citizens. Yudhisthira returned empty handed, while Duryodhana returned with so many prisoners that it needed him almost an army to control.

Dronacharya was the teacher of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He had a difficult job! He had two competing factions of students – Pandavas, who were trying to gain their excellence and kingdom that they lost upon the demise of Pandu; and Kauravas, who were hell bent on roving themselves worthy of the throne that their father Dhritrashtra sat upon since Pandu’s demise. Dronacharya’s task was to impart the education impartially and then choose the better successor for the throne of Hastinapur.

So who should he choose – Yudhishthra, who found to corruptipn or Duryodhana, who basically ransacked the entire kingdom for the corrupt people?

The question is much deeper than the visible statements.

Yudhishthira found no evil as he had no evil in his heart. He looked every one with the same purity and empathy that he had held in himself. On the other hand, Duryodhana went by the laid out rules and captivated everyone who was not in compliance with even a miniscule rule. What does this show?

There is a saying in hindi – “Jaaki rahi bhaavna jaisi, Prabhu murat dekhi tin taisi”. Which means that you see the god in the same way as you hold his image in your heart.

The same spirit is reverberated when Arjuna is asked to aim at the eye of the wooden bird in a class or at the eye of moving fish by looking at the image in boiling oil. A clear vision leads you to the goal. 

The images in heart, are a reflection of one’s thoughts and the working of the mind. After all, the mind thinks, while the heart helps to live. Yudhishthira, though Dharmaputra, abides by the principles all through his life, is sympathetic to the needs of humans. Duryodhana, on the other hand complies by the rules and cares nothing for the empathies of others. He is a rule follower but does not believes in them. What does this tells us?

Rules or laws or principles are created with a purpose. The purpose is explained given the scenario. Once the scenario changes, they tend to lose their meaning. But what doesn’t changes is the principle or the philosophy behind them. While Yudhishthira is said to be a believer in principles, Duryodhana is a firm believer in rules.

Rules have a constrictive mindset as compared to principles that allow one to be creative. Rules bind while principles allow innovation. Who wins? I am not in a position to say so! Mahabharata was a war between the rules and the principles. And it was named as Jaya – Victory, without saying over whom? Cleverly, Veda Vyasa never named his epic – “Vijaya” – victory over others.

Have we understood the meanings on rules and principles well? What do we follow today? If principles then why do we uphold rituals? What are best practices? Do we understand them? Why do we say what once was correct, will always be so? Wasn’t Bhishma the cause of Mahabharata?

Too many questions, and not a clear answer. This is the meaning of Mahabharata or Jaya – the epic by Veda Vyasa. It means victory but over oneself!

The calculus of Brahma

I have been writing a lot about Brahma. But please do not assume my writing as if I am pro-Brahma or against Brahma. I am just trying to understand the universe created by him and the universe we all live in. As I said, the journey is my quest and not the goal itself, because there are many goals depending upon one’s thoughts and mights.

Looking back at some of the ideas as discussed in the previous posts, Brahman comes from the summation of two words – Briha and Manas. While Brih means expansion and Manas means the mind. Thus I understand a Brahman to be a person who helps expand the mind. At the same time, he is able to expand his mind trough knowledge as well.

The process of expansion is understood by the thoughts provoked and understood by the mind – which is the seat of thinking and imagination. Imagination is quite beautiful and also awful. Imagination helps the humans to understand their future and the life they want to lead within the realm of nature. Imagination also helps them to realize the time when all the resources would fade away. This leads to the race of greed to satiate their hunger for the future. Still, its imagination – the thought of future, while no one knows what happens in future! Imagination also leads to the vision of oneself. One imagines how he or she is perceived by themselves and others. Imagination is usually driven by fear. Most of the times, we run away from fear in our imagination and sometimes, we try to drive away our fears through some other new fear while imagining. Thoughts or imaginations that are pertaining to self are the easiest for any one. These help create a progressive mind. However, the thoughts or imaginations about others create a sensitive mind which is sensitive towards others and their needs. A balance between the two is what makes a human great.

The thinking process thus leads us in three ways –

1. Seeking the objective truth – One that is evident and is often related to material – the self-centered thought

2. Seeking the subjective truth – One that is immaterial or intangible – the altruist thought or sensitiveness towards others

3. Seeking the subject itself – One that understands the purpose and hence creates a path for oneself and others together

When we say a brahman helps expand the mind, he helps the growth of mind in all three aspects. Growth or expansion can be infinite as the nature. And here comes calculus to our rescue! Ever wondered the power of the limit functions in differential calculus? Well, let’s see it here. In postulations by Dr Devdutta Pattnaik,

= Brahma, where e is the measure of expansion of mind

Brahma is pronounced such because there is no end to it! It is an asymptote to the learning.

Also, Sanskrit gives us a word Brahmand for the universe. Applying the same summation concepts, it is Brahma’s Egg or his creation.

Thus, when a person stops learning, they think of themselves as Brahma and create their own universe and remain oblivious to other universe that exist all around them.

Break this thought. There will always be innumerable Brahmas and Brahmands around you.

Realization of one’s knowledge and the universe around oneself helps them and others around them.