Durga or Shakti ?

Taking the cue from my previous article – Insurance, I wanted to lament upon the different goddesses mentioned in the Hindu Mythology – Durga and Shakti. Though the two goddesses have often been mentioned synonymously or interchangeably in many stories, the scriptures hold them as different.

Those who are familiar with the Shaktas, would know that Shakti represents supreme power or energy who replicated herself in many forms to bring them to life. She represents the life force. In a way she represents the power within oneself. The scriptures have been pretty much silent where Shakti herself has engaged in a war. She represents power, but does not exerts herself. She is always represented as an epitome of peace. 

Maa Shakti

Durga was invoked by the gods when they needed to kill a demon – Mahishasura. They joined together, provided their own weapons to the form of Goddess to make her all powerful and provide protection to them from Mahishasura.  Incidentally, the word Durga is also related to hindi word – “Durg” meaning fortress or a citadel. The forts or buildings were built to provide protection to the dwellers from the forces outside the boundary. One may deduce that Durga represents power to protect. She represents the power that is exchanged or is seen from outside. In one of my previous posts – Trinity, I also mentioned her as the goddess of the emotional quotient. Exchanges of compliments can also boost one’s sentiments or thought processes. Thus even an exchange of emotions is an exchange of power.

Maa Durga

While Durga represents the power on the outside, Shakti represents the power in the inside. Importantly, we all have a part of Shakti in ourselves. However, we are always searching for Durga all the time. We are all searching for Durga to feel powerful. As the human mind is capable of imagination, it is also open to the fear. It can imagine if it looses what it has today? Its this fear of loss that invigorates the search for power in the humans. It is the search for Durga in us, that leads us to do some inhumane acts as well.

One must understand that the life force is sustained by the power from within and not from outside. At the same time, the mental peace and the sense of achievement are all triggered from one’s self and not from outside yet again.

Understand and realize your Durga and Shakti appropriately. Be sure to nurture them and respect them. Mismanaging the power has never been fruitful for anyone.

Insurance

A friend of mine is recently looking to purchase an insurance policy for himself and his family. We were debating upon the merits of such a policy and he argued the security for the family. In case of any untoward incident, his family shall be taken care of monetarily. The other day I met the same friend partying hard and later driving. He was lucky to have reached his home unharmed. Later, one day I sat thinking of him and his situation and a story came to my mind.

When the Pandavas formed their kingdom of Indraprastha, representatives from various kingdoms all across India were invited. Many kings and princes came to Indraprastha to pay their regards to the glory of Pandavas and also to satiate their curiosity on what kind of kingdom have Pandavas built, without the support from Hastinapur? Pandavas chose Sri Krishna to be their chief guest. This decision of theirs did not go well with many invited guests. Amongst them was Shishupal – the king of Chedi. Shishupal happened to be a cousin of Sri Krishna but was jealous of him. At the same time, Bheem had killed Jarasandha at the instigation and technique suggested by Krishna. Consumed by his jealousy and the idea to teach Krishna a lesson, Shishupal publicly opposed the decision of Pandavas. He called Krishna names and questioned his lineage. He went on to hurl insults and obscenities at Krishna. Pandavas and a few others got agitated with Shishupal’s behavior, but were calmed down by the ever smiling Krishna. Shishupal, sensing no objection to his insults, kept on with his offenses. 

When he spoke the 100^th abuse, Sri Krishna warned him to watch for his tongue as it could be fatal for him. Ignoring Krishna’s warning, Shishupal’s foul mouth committed the 101^st offense towards Krishna. Just then Sri Krishna used his sudarshana chakra to cut off Shishupal’s head.

When Shishupal was born, bad omens occurred. Some say that he was born with the head of a donkey. It was said that at the sight of Shishupal’s slayer, the donkey head would disappear. So when Krishna visited his aunt and saw the new born baby, the donkey head miraculously gave way to a handsome boy. Knowing the fate, Shishupal’s mother realized that her son would be killed by Krishna. To protect her son, she begged Krishna to forgive 100 sins of Shishupal. Sri Krishna smiled at her request and granted her wish. Assured of her son’s long life, Shishupal’s mother lived happily. So did Shishupal as he knew no one could touch him. However, in the happy days, Shishupal’s mother forgot to warn him of the 100 sins condition. Had he known so, he would have paid heed to Sri Krishna’s advise and would have lived longer. Had he known that he is allowed only 100 sins, he would have been more careful in committing those. Had his mother taught him to be a better human being, he would not have required the 100 sins limit!

In a way we all behave like Shishupal’s mother. Looking for a solution outside without searching for the same inside of ourselves. Be it organizations who look at external factors or latera hires or even consultants to fix their issues. Or be it individuals, who find it easier to blame others for what they could not achieve. To compensate for our own shortcomings, we almost every time blame others who support us or are with us all the time. We forget that even the best of support we have got has an expiry date attached to it. Instead of looking at the external factors, if only we can focus on the internal factors, we may be able to find a self sustaining path that shall lead to success in both – short and long terms.

At the same time, this story draws my thought process towards the parenting and teaching issues we are all grappling with today. We expect our children to do extremely well. We expect our schools to take care of our children. We expect the teachers to teach well and transform our kids into a super genius who is great at everything that he does. What we often forget is the inherent capability of the child and his or hers view of life. We often miss out focusing on the purpose of one’s life and are too busy building the safety nets than to make them better person.

If only we focus upon our strengths and weaknesses instead of looking for externa forces as security, more than half of the issues can be resolved easily.

Ramayana – What do we really know?

Now that the days have become shorter and the darkness prevails most part of the day, I was remembering the dark stories heard in the childhood. I remember my parents telling me Diwali as a festival of lights where brightness wins over darkness. It was then that I started to read Ramayana once again, only to realize how little did I knew of the great epic.

I am sure that when asked the question “Do you know Ramayana?” you shall promptly raise your head and would probably term me as a lunatic for having such a doubt! But trust me, many of us do not know or understand Ramayana! And yes, I shall go to the extremes and say that those who ask of “Ram Rajya” or the “Perfect Ideal Administration” also do not understand Ramayana.

Ramayana was written by Valmiki in Sanskrit and has been adopted in many languages and has spread to countries other than India itself. In fact, there are more than 300 variants of the Ramayana known today. Valmiki composed Ramayana into 2400 verses over 7 sections known as Kandas. Incidentally, the first letter of every 1000 verses makes the Gayatri Mantra. Valmiki dedicated Ramayana to celebrate the life of Lord Rama. The story shows the duties of relationships through portrayal of ideal characters – ideal father, ideal son, ideal brother, ideal wife, ideal servant and the ideal king.

The human mind is highly capable of imagination, yet it is limited by its capability to comprehend the situation through comparisons. It is easier for us to understand and remember the information provided to us in form of tables as compared to a long text. At the same time, to explain some good qualities of in a person, we need to create a character that contrasts the subject. This helps explain and prove the point. If you notice, most of the stories are also written in the same manner so that their message is well conveyed to the reader.  The storyteller plays an important role in depicting the characters in the good light and allow the audience to decipher the meaning of the story that suits their mindset. Valmiki wrote the Ramayana with a similar zeal.

Yes, the Ramayana is as much the story of Ravana as it is of Rama. It is unfortunate that in our quest and retelling of the great epic we have overlooked the qualities that Ravana possessed. Ramayana, just like Mahabharata, depicts the state of affairs at its time. The notions of good, bad and evil are constructs of the society at any point in time. For now, let’s look at a few things that we have overlooked!

Ravana was born to Kaikesi (a Rakshasa Princess) and a great Sage Vishrava (or Vesamuni). If we consider the patriarchal society, Ravana should have been considered a Brahmin just like his father. Yet, he is considered a Rakshasa due to his deed. This point in itself breaks the caste ideology of today. Ravana’s wife – Mandodari was the daughter of Mayasura, who belonged to the Asura clan. Even though, we consider both Asura and  Rakshasa clans as bad and evil, the philosophy classifies the population into multiple clans or Kula – Deva (Sura), Rakshasa, Asura, Manava, Yaksha, Gandharva etc and makes no distinction amongst them. Every clan is known to have individuals with good and not so good qualities. All these clans were spread out into multiple different parts of India. How can we today generalize if a sect of people is good or bad? Shouldn’t it be individualistic?

Interestingly, the word Rakshasa is pronounced as Rakkha in Sri Lanka. The word means “protector” or one who looks after the needs of the stomach. Extrapolating on the same, it meant that Rakshasa is one who protects a population by looking after the needs of their stomach and hence can be termed as a farmer or an agriculturalist! For the forest dwellers in the time of Ramayana, an organized farming is a major step of evolution. If Ravana moved his population towards this, he was a genius! Similarly, the word Asura meant some one who is neither a Sura (deva) or a Manava (human). They were supposed to be strng built people who could use their force to achieve whatever they wanted. Mayasura – the notable Asura is known to be a great engineer to have built the flying machines for Ravana. For the Persians of the Zoroastrian faith, who worship the holy fire, Ahura Mazada is their god. Since ‘Sa’ in Sanskrit is equivalent to ‘Ha’ in Persian, “Ahura” could also be “Asura”. There also happens to be a Babylonian divinity – Ashur.

Many historians considered Ravana a Brahmin and a Kshatriya. He was considered a Brahmin for his knowledge and literary pursuits until he mae a grave mistake of abducting another man’s wife. Him being the ruler of Lanka grants him the Kshatriya qualities. Ravana was  Sanskrit scholar and is known to have authored some of the classic literatures –

• Yuddhisha Tantra
• Prakrurti Kamadhenu
• Shivatandava Stotra

Ravana is known as an exponent of the Sama Veda and is known to have mastered the Pada Patha – the technique of oral recitation that has kept the Vedas alive till they could be written down.

Ravana is also known as a great Ayurveda practitioner. He is known to have pioneered the Naadi Vignana technique of diagnosis in Ayurveda. He is considered to be an Ayurvedic physician and an Ayurvedic pharmacologist. The art of distillink Arka and the preparation of Asava – the two forms of medicines in Ayurveda are acknowledged as his contribution to Ayurveda pharmacology. For the purpose of distilling Arka, he devised a yantra called Varuni. He also authored an Ayurvedic treatise – Arka Prakasha – describing his process and technique. His ayurvedic genius is also seen in his knowledge of vitaminizing rice balls to be used as refreshments during his journey in the various flying machines he had. Ravana’s vitaminized rice balls are known as Ravana Goli. He is known to have given the same to Sita while abducting her. Sita threw them by the wayside and those were known as Sita Goli. The hill tribes of Lanka have found these balls while digging or ploughing and have safeguarded them as part of their family heirloom. These golis are known to have preserved their medicinal value even today.

Ravana was a great administrator. He ruled one of the toughest kingdoms of its times. He displaced Kubera who was known to hoard wealth and managed the relations with Varuna well. His administrative skills were so highly regarded that Rama sent Lakshmana to learn the salient points of administering a kingdom from Ravana when he was mortally wounded. Ravana, though wounded, imparted the knowledge to Lakshmana without malice.

Ravana wasa gifted Veena player and is known to have played for the Lord Shiva’s dance. Combined with his ayurvedic knowledge of Nadi Vigyana, it is often said that Ravana was capable of playing Veena with his own nerves and that of others too!

The 10 heads of Ravana have been a point of curiosity for ages. Different perspectives have led to interesting discussions. One credible explantion found in Valmiki Ramayana and SriLankan Buddhist text – Mahavamsa says – Ravana governed over ten provinces or regions in his kingdom. The crowns of these ten provinces were placed behind his throne. For an onlooker, this would give an appearance of Ravana sporting ten crowns on his head.

Ravana’s kingdom was not limited to present day’s Sri Lanka. It most probably extended to Central India. Ramayana depicts the Dandakaranya forests to be occupied by Rakshasas. It was under Ravana’s control and he had appointed Khar and Dushan to oversee the region.

Ravana was a great king who was adored by his people and had applied his knowledge to great engineering marvels. However, his only fallacy was to abduct another man’s wife. The motive for such an act is again debatable – Ramayana stresses that it was Surpanakha’s jealousy, while Anand Neelkanthan’s “Asura: Tale of the vanquished” suggests it was a father’s love for her daughter!

CREDITS - 

1. Ramayana in Lanka - D.K. Hema Hari & D.K. Hari
2. Asura: Tale of the vanquished - Anand Neelkanthan
3. Ramayana - Valmiki
4. Ram Charit Manas - Tulsidas