Once Saraswati goddess of knowledge was pleased with the dance of
Urvashi and gave her a garland that represents wisdom. Urvashi thought that
wisdom or gnana is worth sharing with others. It should be shared with
others especially to some one who is great and selfless and only then can he
pass it on to others. She then gave to the great sage Durvaasa who is known
for his anger, but he has used his anger to initiate good actions.
Durvasa thought that the great gift of wisdom from Saraswati should be given
to some one who is only busy in seeking pleasures of the senses. What
is the use of external pleasures if he is ignorant of the bliss he has
within himself. So he gave it to Indra, which is from the root word Indriya
meaning senses.
Indra who represents the one who is always dwelling in the world of sensual
pleasures (Swarga) considered the the garland of wisdom as worthless.
He said he was used to wearing costly and precious jewels, gold and gems.
It is a prestige issue. What will the other Gods think of us if we wear this
garland of flowers? So he dropped the garland and stamped under his feet.
The enraged sage (Durvasa is the
manifestation of Shiva the Awareness) cursed Indra that having ignored
intellect, may he and his companions lose the power of health, beauty,
wealth, courage, knowledge and so become mortal and die.
Durvasa did not take back
his curse though Indra pleased for forgiveness and so Indra sought the
help of Brahma and saraswati.
Indra was
advised by Brahma and saraswati to churn the ocean ksheer sagar. Saraswati
told Indra that to enjoy a heavenly life, one should have back up of
Wisdom. Without it Indra may still be in heaven but all the happiness will
only be for a short time. Having made a mistake, to get back happiness
permanently in heaven, churn the ocean called Ksheer Sagar. To do this,
Saraswati asked Indra to take the help of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva to
provide the snake Vasuki and the Man-dhara mountain to churn the ocean.
Equally important is to get the help of the demons , the Asuras in
this churning process to get Amrita and become Immortal.
What does this symbolize?
The ocean of milk is the ocean of the mind, which has the never ending waves
of thoughts and emotions. Mandhara, the mountain represents concentration.
The word Mandhara contains two words "man" (mind) and "dhara" (a single
line) which means holding the mind in one pointed focus.
The snake Vasuki also called Ananta
represents the eternal time, we take
to undergo this process of evolution.
The mind is
not stable because it always wanders. This mind has to be pulled inwards
like the tortoise which pulls its body into a tough shell. Only through
discipline in life can we attain the state of the Tortoise. We should have
control over the senses like the tortoise which holds the mountain.
The Asuras represent negative energies like anger, jealousy and hatred. But
this energy can be used for purifying the mind. So
this churning action of the ocean of the mind
means to get the mind in one pointed concentration, by unifying the net
positive and negative energy within a long time scale (to be patient in
respect to time).
Deadly Poison:
The first thing
that came out of the churning was not a pleasant result. A deadly poison
came out of the snake, Vasuki. The halahal or poison represents the
suffering and pain we undergo at the beginning of spiritual saadhana. Do not
be afraid of this strong inner turmoil. The only solution to overcome the
pain and suffering is to witness it, be aware of this. This awareness is
Lord Shiva. So the Gods prayed to Lord Shiva.
Shiva appeared
with Paarvati in Abhaya or Fearless Mudra . He drank the poison and poison,
drinks it but does not swallow it so that it remains in his neck. This
represents the state of a person whose throat chakra is activated. The
throat chakra is the region of thyroid hormone which controls metabolism of
the body. Here it means one who he has control over the physiological
process like hunger, sleep etc.
We have
several times discussed in Sakthi foundation web site that initially it is
better to be aware of the negative qualities rather than suppressing it.
When we do any practice we would notice that several negative tendencies
come to over ride it. So mere being aware of it will absorb the negative
tendencies and finally one will get control over it. This is what the act of
Shiva represents.
Once we have patience in
our practices, and mastered our mind,
we will get the fruits of the action. Then from the ocean of the mind, will
arise Kaamadhenu (the wish fulfilling cow).
This means the Spiritual Sadhak's pursuits become beneficial to other beings
of the world like the milk giving kamdhenu cow.
The Ucchaisrava (the white horse)
represents his power of his mind to puruse actions for the good of his self
and the world. The same holds good with Airavata (the white elephant), which
represents the inner strength of the Sadhak.
Kaustubhamani (a rare diamond), which means
he attains peace at his heart.
The spiritual sadak realizes that even his
petty desires and wishes come true, when he gains mastery over his mind,
which is represented by Kalpavriksha (the wish fulfilling tree).
The chandra or moon represents the clarity
of the sadhak's mind. Finally comes Lakshmi, the goddess of all wealth, who
represents the inner light or the light of Atma. Lakshmi, marries
Vishnu, the one who has complete control over his mind and senses. The
marriage of Vishnu and Lakshmi is celebrated as Deepavali on Earth
symbolized with lights. The darkness in the hearts will be filled with the
light of Lakshmi.
The lakshmi pooja done on the previous
night after cleaning their homes also applies to their hearts from all evil
tendencies will get ashta-aishwarya of Lakshmi. Only When Lakshmi enters as
light into our hearts, there will be happiness and prosperity everywhere and
we will also attain Amrit. We will see about the concept
of Lakshmi in more in Navarthri section.
Dhanvantari stands
for health. The vessel containing the Amrit was brought before the gods and
the demons by Dhanvantari, the Divine Physician. This signifies that
immortality can be achieved only when the body and mind are in a perfect
state of health. This is the reason why Sakthi Foundation emphasizes to take
care of health as the basic foundation to complete the life's journey
smoothly. Spiritual success is not possible in the case of a person who is
mentally or physically sick.
Deeper Significance of Amrit:
The moment the
awareness of Shiva dawns on us we will be
able to overcome all the pain and sufferings in life and like the Tortoise
(Vishnu) if we have the detached attitude to pull our mind inwards, we will
get all positive qualities in us. Finally we get Amrit due to this churning
or purification process of our oceanic mind. Then we attain Self Realization
or Amrita, which means no death (mrit means death and A-mrit is no-death).
As long as we relate ourselves to the mortal body we undergo samsara or
repeated death and birth cycle. When we realize that we are the Brahman,
then we get liberated and attain immortality.
Lord Vishnu in the form
of Mohini stands for delusion of the mind in the form of pride. It is the
pride of achievement to which the asuras or the demons succumbed and thus
lost their right to enter the world of immortality. Pride and egoism are
the last hurdles one has to overcome in spiritual life before experiencing
self-realization. The pride of doing
spiritual sadhana will rob us from attaining Self realization or Amritam.
Only by surrendering the Ego do the Maya aspect of Brahman , do we attain
Self Realization or Amritam.
