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Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011
Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011
Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011
Swami Atmananda
Atma Bodha - Shloka 27
Vedanta Section
Fear a product of baseless Self-Perception
In the previous sloka the Acharya explained that the Atman is of the nature of pure conscious-
ness and that there is no sense of doership in the Atman. The intellect being inert also has no independent
pottential to become conscious of anything. Yet the Jiva(the individual self), ignorantly conceives itself to
be the doer, seer etc.
In the following sloka the Acharya explains the grave consequences one faces by imagining the
Self to be a Jiva, a limited being. All the sufferings of Samsara, fear and anxiety are born once we see
ourselves as a limited Jivah with a sense of doership and enjoyership. But knowing the Self to be a Jiva is
only born ot of ignorance and imagination and can be effaced with the right knowledge is explained in the
following sloka.
27
Rajju sarpavadatmanam Jivo gyatva bhayam vahet
Naham Jiavah Paramatmeti gyatashchet nirbhayo bhavet
Rajjusarpavat: Like in the case of Rope & Snake example; Atmanam: the Self; Jivo Gyatva:
taking it as a limited individual; Bhayam Vahet: carries the burden of Fear; Naham Jivah: I am
not this individuality; Paramatmeti: but Paramatma; Gyatah chet: If someone knows like this;
Abhayo Bhavet: He shall become fearless.
Mistaking oneself to be a mere individual, like taking a rope as serpent, one is subject to
fear. Gaining the knowledge that ‘I am not a Jiva, but Paramatman, one becomes fearless.
Page # 5
Letter of the Is Buddha an Avatar?
Month
Hari Om.
Thanks for the New Year Greeting. My blessings to you all too for a
happy and enlightening year ahead.
Knowledge is all
about being aware Regarding your query about Buddha, I discussed the matter with Poojya
of the Guruji, and as per our understanding the resolving of such an issue is
Astruth
perof what
our
as follows: While it is right that the Puranas do refer to Buddha as one
is, while Yoga and
understanding the of the avatars of Bhagwan Vishnu, but ‘Gautam’ Buddha was apparently
Bhakti aimofto such
resolving not that avatar, he did some very good & great things in his lifetime, but
change the mind
contention is as for was certainly not a spokesman of Sanatan Dharma, on the contrary he
the better,
follows: so it is
While was a founder of non-vedic Dharma, now known as Buddhism.
technically
right thattheythefall
in the category In order to understand this issue properly it is necessary to appreciate
Puranas do referofto
two points nicely: 1. The Principle of Avatar 2. Some facts about Buddha.
karma,as
Buddha working to
one of the
changeofsomething.
avatars Bhagwan 1. Regarding the first issue of Avatar please understand that an avatar
For knowledge
Vishnu, even
but ‘Gautam’ is that divine manifestation of God which, one, ‘destroys adharma’,
a sankalpa to was
Buddha and two, re-establishes Dharma (Ref. Gita Chap-4). However all
change anything
apparently not thatis avataras do not necessarily accomplish both these tasks. Most of them
are very short lived manifestations who by their divine intervention just
an impediment,
avatar, he did some
destroy some extremely powerful forces of adharma. This is specially
because
very goodthen our
& great true in cases like Narsimha avatar etc. The avataras which not only
priorities
things in hischange
lifetime, destroy Adharma but also establish Dharma are called 'Poorna Avatars'
from
but wasknowing
certainlywhat
not - like Bhagavan Ram and Krishna. So the shastras use this Avatar
a isspokesman
to working for of word in a very broad manner. Buddha avatar was also one of those
what should
Sanatan Dharma.be. avatars which merely helped in the negation of adharma at some point
in time. The first Buddha avatar did negate thoughtless, mechanical &
- Poojya Guruji
blind ritualism, and thus indirectly facilitated the establishment of Vedic
Dharma. As that earlier Buddha did not negate Vedic dharma but just
negated adharma, he very well qualified to be called as one of the
avatars of Bhagwan Vishnu. The word ‘Buddha’ literally means the
'Awakened-One' and it is more of a generic word which has been used
many times in the Vedas, much before ‘Gautam’ Buddha came on the
scene. It is basically a sanskrit word which was apparently borrowed
by later Buddhist scholars etc to refer to their Master also.
So in short please understand that the Buddha avatar referred to in the Puranas and which
was much earlier than Gautam Buddha was a different manifestation; but he also did not
directly establish the rule of Dharma but just worked to remove some of the negativities which
had cropped up in our religion. This helped a lot to again re-establish the rule of Vedic Dharma
by the existing Masters & Mahatmas of that time. So while we do respect any person with
compassion, magnanimity, austerity etc., but this by itself doesn’t qualify anyone to be called
as an Avatara – as per our tradition. I hope this additional information will help you to resolve
the issue.
Love & om
Page # 7
Narmada Jayanti
Narmada Jayanti is a religious festival marking the birthday of river Narmada. It
is celebrated with spectacular extravagance in Amarkantak and also in the bathing ghats
of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. This great festival is observed during the month
of February.
Narmada, daughter of Shivji
devotees float traditional oil lamps on the waters of the Narmada, from the sprawling
bathing ghats. Thousands of people attend the festival. This year Narmada Jayanti will
be celebrated on 10th of Feb 2011.
On the occassion of this pious festival let us see the glories of Maa Narmada:
The Narmada happens to be one of the most sacred of the five holy rivers of
India; the other four being Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari and Kaveri. It is believed that a
dip in any of these five rivers washes ones sins away. According to a legend, the river
Ganges is polluted by millions of people bathing in it. To cleanse herself, Ganges ac-
quires the form of a black cow and comes to the Narmada to bathe in its holy waters.
Legends also mention that the Narmada River is older than the river Ganges.
The Rewa Khand of Vayu Purana and the Rewa Khand of Skanda Purana are
entirely devoted to the story of the birth and the importance of the river and hence
Narmada is also called Rewa. According to the Puranas, the Narmada is also called the
Rewa, from its leaping motion (from the root 'rev') through its rocky bed.
There are many fables about the origin of the Narmada. According to one of
them, once Lord Shiva, the Destroyer of the Universe, meditated so hard that he started
perspiring. Shiva’s sweat accumulated in a tank and started flowing in the form of a river
– the Narmada. Another legend has it that two teardrops that fell from the eyes of Lord
Brahma, the Creator (*of the Universe, yielded two rivers – the Narmada and the Son.
Legends also say that for Lord Shiva, the Hindu God, the river is especially sa-
cred on account of its origin, and it is often called Shankari, i.e., daughter of Shankar
(Lord Shiva). All the pebbles rolling on its bed are said to take the shape of his emblem
with the saying, "Narmada Ke Kanker utte Sankar" (a popular saying in the Hindi belt of
India), which means that ‘pebble stones of Narmada gets a personified form of Shiva’.
VedantaSandesh
Vedanta Sandesh- -Feb
April2011
2009 Page # 10
These lingam shaped stones (cryptocrytalline quartz), called Banalinga also called
(Banashivalingas) are much sought after for daily worship by the Hindus. The
Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, constructed by Rajaraja Chola, has
one of the biggest Banalingas. Adi Shankara met his guru Govinda Bhagavatpada on
the banks of river Narmada.
Important religious places and Ghats along the course of the river, starting with its
origin at Narmadakhund at Amarkantak hill, are: a) the Amarkantak (in Sanskrit: Neck of
Shiva) or Teerathraj (the King of Pilgrimages), b) Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, and Mahadeo
temples, Nemawar Siddeshwar Mandir in the middle reach of the river – all named after
Shiva, c) Chausath Yogini (sixty four yoginis) temple, d) Chaubis Avatar temple, e) Bhojpur
Shiva temple and Bhrigu Rishi temple in Bharuch. The Narmada River is also worshipped
as mother goddess by Narmadeeya Brahmins.
The importance of the Narmada River as sacred is testified by the fact that the
pilgrims perform a holy pilgrimage of a Parikrama or Circumbulation of the river. The
Narmada Parikrama, as it is called, is considered to be a meritorious act that a pilgrim
can undertake. Many sadhus (saints) and pilgrims walk on foot from the Arabian Sea at
Bharuch in Gujarat, along the river, to the source in Maikal Mountains (Amarkantak hills)
in Madhya Pradesh and back along the opposite bank of the river. It is a 2,600-kilometre
(1,600 miles) walk. Important towns of interest in the valley are Jabalpur, Barwani,
Hoshangabad, Harda, Narmada Nagar, Omkareshwar, Dewas (Nemavar, Kity, Pipri),
Mandla and Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, and Rajpipla and Bharuch in Gujarat. Some
places of historical interest are Joga Ka Quilla, Chhatri of Baji Rao Peshwa and Bhimbetka,
and among the falls are – Dugdhdhara, Dhardi falls, Bheraghat, Dhuandhara, Kapiladhara
and Sahastradhara.
Come Friday, Santa was back to his delicious cooking, and the neighbours
were surprised. They peeped inside his house and were utterly amazed when
they saw Santa standing with a bottle of holy water, sprinkling the water on the
grilled chicken he was saying: “Oye, you waz born a chicken, you were raised a
chicken, but now dear…. you are a potato”!
Page # 9
Wise Sage
“Do you really think your prayer will help her, when
medicine has failed?” yelled a man from the crowd.
n ce u .. It would increase his prestige and show all men and gods the extent of his wealth
O e . and influence.
m
a ti Accordingly, he went to Mount Kailash to invite Lord Shiva. Shiva was his patron.
Kubera owed all his wealth to Shiva who, pleased with his devotion had given him
the boon that his wealth would never diminish, no matter how much he spent.
Shiva declined to come but said he would send his son, Ganesha. Kubera was
disappointed. Shiva’s presence would have been a feather in his cap. But at least
he was sending Ganesha. It would have been a terrible snub if no one from the
family were to come. Kubera resolved to make the feast so grand that Shiva’s
absence would not be felt.
The guests were many, thousands of them, both gods and men. They were
accommodated in a huge hall built especially for the purpose. The chief guest,
Ganesha, was the last to come. The moment he entered, he began to ask for food.
He was shown to a seat of honour and tantalising dishes were set before him. He
gulped them down and asked for more. He was given a second helping and then
a third but his appetite remained undiminished.
Kubera ordered his army of cooks to produce more food but they could not keep
pace with Ganesha’s eating frenzy. The elephant-god was eating food meant for
thousands. When he had finished all the food set before him, he began to shout,
“Give me more, give me more!” and then getting impatiently to his feet, rushed to
the enormous kitchen and devoured all the food there.
Kubera was aghast. All the food was gone and the guests had not been fed. Worse,
Ganesha was still hungry. “You call this a feast?” Ganesha admonished Kubera.
“There’s no food here. I’m going home.” Kubera pleaded with him to stay, promising
him more food in a little while but his young guest was in no mood to listen. He got
on his mount and sped away. Kubera, fearing Shiva’s wrath, followed in his own
vehicle.
“I did, I did, my lord,” said Kubera, feeling miserable. His feast had turned into a
farce. Instead of adding to his prestige it had made him a laughing stock. But he
was relieved to see that Shiva did not appear to be angry.
He fell at his patron’s feet and begged forgiveness for his pride.
Vritti, and Gita Chapter-16. Laghu Vakya Vritti is a beautiful and very thoughtful
text, and is basically a free commentary on the Mahavakya ‘Aham
Brahmasmi’. Composed by Sri Adi Sankara, this eighteen shloka text is in-
deed like an ocean in a pot. There were two classes per day for this. The
other text was Gita, whose 16th chapter was explained. It is the Daivasur-
Sampat Vibhaga Yoga. It enumerates the positive and negative qualities.
Bhagwan tells that all the posiitive qualities are that which facilitate freeedom,
while the negative ones bind us.
First there was the Corn & Gram Party, where fresh corn, green-
gram and sweet-beet were baked directly in the camp fire by sewaks &
kitchen staff. Then there was Hanuman Chalisa chanting, bhajans and then
Antakshari. It was surprising to see how much stock the campers had of
songs, bhajans, shlokas and verses. It kept spontaneously flowing & flow-
ing and finally it was a tie. The weather was great, a slight lovely chill in the
air, made everyone wrap light wollens around and enjoy the evening fully.
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're
here we should DANCE - Anony
When we always worry and hurry through the day, it is more like an
unopened gift thrown away.
“We first make our habits, and Then our habits make us.”
- John Dryden
“Life like a mirror, never gives back more than what we put into it”
"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the
spoon." - Edward Morgan Forster
Page # 15
Hari om !
Om Tat Sat