Thanksgiving: Anything in the Gita?

Dear All: Today is Black Friday - the annual mad shopping rush in the USA following the Thanksgiving festivities of Thursday, November 22, 2012. Thanksgiving means a lot of cooking and a lot of eating, and in the American culture and popular folklore it also means meeting in-laws and relatives you do NOT want to meet and getting into all kinds of arguments. This year there were also articles posted that provided a guide on how to explain the Presidential election results to your in-laws and relatives (and getting into a fight)! Religion and politics are two topics best avoided they say. Anyway, as usual, my thoughts went to the Gita - and this, as you know, has NOTHING at all to do with religion. It is pure philosophy and the gift of knowledge for all mankind. In chapter 3, which is formally known as the Karma yoga chapter, we find an interesting verse that has to do with "food", the focus of the Thanksgiving festivities - and indeed all of our festivals, starting with Navarathri (actually Ganesha Chaturthi) and Diwali. The eating binge and the abdominal (area) bulge start with all these festivities and too much eating. Krishna addresses this topic in the Gita. In chapter 3, verse 14, He tells Arjuna, Annaad-bhavanti bhootaani parjunyaat anna sambhavahaa l Yajnyaat bhavati parjanyO yajnyah karma samudbhavahaa ll 3.14 ll BG anna (pronounce unna) The word "annam" (pronounce unnam) here means food and annaat (with sandhi annaad) means "from food". Krishna starts out by saying that "All beings

(bhootani) owe their existence and sustenance to food." annaad-bhavanti bhootani. Then He says, "Food is possible due to rains." parjunyaat anna sambhavahaa. The logic is very simple. We need rains to grow crops and without crops there is no possibility of food that we need to sustain this body. In fact, according to the Yoga sutras, the "food sheath" is the outermost sheath - annamaya kosha - that envelopes the atma. We are all in contact only with this outermost sheath, or kosha (see diagrams of the sheaths, or koshas, in the article that I recently posted on the internet, click here or use the link http://www.scribd.com/doc/113760141/Chapter13-of-Gita-Jnana-Yoga-Begins Krishna then tells us how rains are produced. He says, "Rain is possible due to performance of yajnas." yagnyaat bhavati pajanyO. This too is a very simple and direct statement. Yajnam refers to various sacrifices offered to propitiate the "gods". In all these sacrifices we chant various mantras and invoke various deities. In the previous verses of chapter 3, Krishna states that the performance of such yajnas were taught by Brahma (who received all the divine instructions from Bhagavan, as Krishna, this is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam) to the progenitors of mankind - the prajapati. The first prajapati was Swambhu Manu. He and his wife Shataroopa are the Adam and Eve according to (Hindu, ah! there it is, religion, actually NOT) teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam also a gift of knowledge to all mankind. After Brahma created this first couple (they came out of his body as Brahma was lying down, breathing and meditating), he told them to create progeny and populate the Universe, for that was Bhagavan's wish. The couple agreed and dutifully asked Brahma where they should make their home. There was no where they could stay and live and enter into this family life. All around there was nothing but water, water, water - the waters of the pralaya that fill the Universe at the end of each day (kalpa) of Brahma. Brahma realized the problem. He had created the first couple but there was no place to stay. The earth was immersed in the waters of the pralaya. So, as we see often in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Brahma dutifully started meditating again and

asked for Bhagavan's help. Then Bhagavan appeared as Lord Varaha and lifted the earth out of the waters of the pralaya. The Tirupati-Tirumala kshetra, where we have the most renowned temple for Lord Venkateswara is actually the original abode of Varahaswamy. The Lord as Venkateswara has taken residence to take care of His devotees in this Kaliyuga, with the permission of Varahaswamy (You find this info in the Tirupati-Tirumala Devasthanam website, http://www.tirumala.org/ptv_tm_varaha.htm , see later ). There is a small temple to Varahaswamy on the north side of the temple pond (pushkariNi) that we are actually supposed to first visit before we seek the darshan of Lord Venkateswara. But with the long lines to see the Lord, this cannot be fulfilled unless one first visits Lord Varahaswamy and then joins the long lines. Few devotees do this, or are even aware of this important requirement of their trip to Tirupati-Tirumala. Anyway, the Lord appeared as Varaha and lifted the earth out of the waters of pralaya. Now, Swambhu and Shataroopa, had a place to stay. Then Brahma taught them how to perform yajnas. With these yajnas, Brahma said, "You will prosper and get all your material needs." This is stated briefly by Krishna in chapter 3, verse 10 which ends with "Anena prasavishyadvam esha vostu-ishTakamadhuk". The verb used here - prasavishyadam - is interesting. It is derived from "prasavam" which, as used in most Indian languages, refers to child birth. With the birth of children, we prosper and multiply. It is one of the most joyous events of life. Like that, Brahma says to the first couple you will multiply and prosper. I bless you to multiply and prosper with this would be a better translation - since a wish is being stated! Why just a "wish"? Since, it is likely that we do not follow the advice. Brahma knew about that. Repeatedly, his wishes had been thwarted before, starting with the four Sanat kumaras, who were created first (long before the first couple) and asked to create progeny. The Sanat kumaras refused. Then, according to Srimad Bhagavatam, this angered Brahma. In this angry mood, Brahma created Rudra (who reflected all that anger of Brahma) but things went awry and the

various "beings" (progeny) created by Rudra were all fearsome. So Brahma himself asked Rudra to stop and he gladly did and turned to meditation and changed from Rudra to the auspicious Lord Shiva. Then Brahma tried a few other things (including the debacle of creating Saraswati, the first and most enchanting female) before hitting upon the plan to creating a male and a female to populate the universe. Thus, started the need for a place to stay, the need for food, the need for rains, and so the "formula" for the orderly functioning of the Universe is this cycle of yajna-rain-food. Krishna uses the word "cycle", or chakram, in verse 16 to describe this plan for the functioning of the Universe. And so it is that we perform various yajnas - like Ganapati homam (done on the first Saturday of each month at the Novi, Michigan, Venkateswara temple), Sudarshana homam (performed regularly in many homes by Sri Balaji temple, which will soon be relocating to a new facility in West Bloomfield, Michigan) and other yajnas to propitiate the "gods". Krishna states in verse 10, cited above, that these yajnas will be like "kamadhenu's milk", in other words milk (dhuk, or dhugdham) that will fulfill all your desires (ishTa kaama). In chapter 3, verse 11, Krishna describes His plan even more clearly. He says that you (i.e., Arjuna, which means we humans) should perform these yajnas and please the "gods". Notice that I have used lower case with "god" not the upper case God. The upper case refers to the Supreme Being. The lower case 'god' refers to literally 33 crores of deities (or gods), celestial beings with superior powers than we humans possess. They have been given the authority to take care of all our needs and bless us once they are propitiated and invoked by using various mantras and making offerings in the "fire". In verse 12, Krishna says that this "mutual admiration" society of humans and gods is His plan for this Universe Devaah bhaavayata anena te devaah bhaavayantu vahaa. Please the gods with this (yajna) and they will please you if you please them. Sort of like, I scratch your back and you scratch mine. If the back is itching, it is good to have someone to scratch it for us. Of course, there are ways to scratch one's back without a second party but this implies we are physically endowed to be

able to use other "back scratching tools". Don't make too many assumptions. One day you will get old and may not even be able to scratch your own back and even the wife (ok, or husband!) may not be around and you might have to depend on your grandchildren who are too busy with their video games and what not. Anyway, now you get the idea ... that is what "prasavishyadvam" means ... grow, multiply, prosper, enjoy. Wife, husband, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on. And that is what Thanksgiving is all about. When the early European immigrants to the USA found this new land and decided to live here, they needed crops and were thankful to the local Indians for helping them survive a very difficult winter, the story goes. The following year they had a bountiful crop. And they decided to says "thanks" to the Lord. The first Thanksgiving, history says, was proclaimed by Governor Bradford of the colony of Massachusetts, where I spent my first years in this country (and am proud to say even befriended a direct descendant of Governor Bradford). The idea of giving "Thanks" is actually rooted in Vedic culture as well. Each yajna is actually an act of Thanksgiving. YajnO Yajnapatir Yajvaa YajnaagO Yajnavaahanahaa ll 104 ll Yajnabhrud-yajnakrud-yagnyee Yajnabhug-yajna-saadhanahaa l Yajnaatakrud-yajna gushyam annam annaada eva ca ll 105 ll These are verses 104 and 105, very nearly the concluding verses, of the Vishnu Sahasranamam. We do not have time to discuss this in detail now, but the process of "Yajna" is being described here (see commentaries, click here and here). Although according to the mantras we chant, we invoke various deities, He, the one Supreme Being (God, as described by Bheeshma to YuddishTiraa) is the ultimate recipient of all our offerings. Notice how all this ends with "annam annaada" the food that we need to sustain this body and its (true) Enjoyer. But, we also owe it to ourselves to go beyond this "annamaya kosha" and discover the other koshas or sheaths - pranamaya kosha (energy), manomaya kosha (mind), vijnana maya kosha (intellect), and anandamaya kosha (Bliss).

The process of "Thanksgiving" is the first step. This wonderful American tradition, which also has it roots in the Gita, is one of the most eloquent ways to recognize what Krishna is teaching us. Very sincerely V. Laxmanan November 23, 2012.

Sri Varahaswami Temple

Sri Varahaswami Temple in Tirumala is to the north of the Sri Venkateswara Temple, on the banks of Swami Pushkarini. According to legend, Tirumala was originally Adi Varaha Kshetra (the home of Sri Adi Varaha Swami), and it was with his permission that Lord Sri Venkateswara took up residence here (see http://www.tirumala.org/ptv_tm_varaha.htm) According to the Brahma Purana, pilgrims should first offer naivedyam to Sri Adi Varaha Swami, before visiting the Sri Venkateswara Temple. According to Atri Samhita (Samurtarchanadhikara), the Varaha avatara is worshipped in three forms:

Adi Varaha Pralaya Varaha Yajna Varaha

The idol of Sri Varahaswami in Tirumala is that of Adi Varaha, as it resembles the description of the Adi Varaha murti in Vaikhanasa Agama texts.