Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Story 25 – The Fall of Jaya and Vijaya
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 25 – The Fall of Jaya and Vijaya
Maitreya started explaining the purpose and the cause of the birth of Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha (and the reason why they were blessed by the Lord).
Once the Sanaka sages (the boy-saints who are always in their childhood even though they are the eldest of Brahma’s children – they are four in number Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara) by their yogic power went to Vaikunta to see Vishnu, the Lord after knowing whom there remains nothing else to be known. They passed through six gates and there were two young people brilliant & shining who were guarding the seventh gate. Since these sages don’t differentiate between anything as they perceive the Self everywhere, they started to enter through the gate. At this the gate keepers stopped them with their staff. These two gate keepers were called Jaya and Vijaya (brothers). The sanaka sages were angry and they cursed that Jaya and Vijaya be born on the earth. They proclaimed that a person will fear another only if he himself is bad. Similarly since they feared lest these saints might disturb or harm Vishnu, they stopped them. Thus their mind also was not pure. And hence they were cursed so as to be born on Earth where the mind is affected by the three characteristics of lust, greed and anger.
Hearing this curse of the saints, Jaya and Vijaya repented for their action. They immediately fell at the feet of the saints and asked pardon for the same. They asked the saints to take back their curse.
At this time, Lord Vishnu himself came down to where they were standing. The sanaka saints were more than satisfied as they could get a glimpse of the Lord. The Lord out of his compassion said to Jaya and Vijaya that it was with his consent that such a curse happened. He explained that once when he was immersed in Samadhi, his wife Lakshmi came to see him. They did not allow her to go in. And because of that, they were cursed by the sanaka sages. But Lord said to them that you will be born in the Earth as demons for three births, worship ME through anger and after that you will return to my abode and be always merged in the ultimate reality of Brahman.
Thus, the first birth of Jaya and Vijaya on Earth was as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha.
Explanation
Each and every person in the world are subjected to six main enemies which are KAAMA (desire), KRODHA (anger), LOBHA (greed), MOHA (delusion), MADHA (wanting what others have), MATSARYA (jealousy).
These are mentioned as six crocodiles in the ocean of samsaara. These are very tough and hence they do not let a person cross over the samsaara (crossing over is liberation or realization of the ultimate reality of Brahman or God and Self). The only way to escape from these crocodiles is to have oneself fully immersed in the tamarind of BHAKTHI or ultimate devotion to Lord. Crocodiles don’t attack if they see tamarind and hence a person easily crosses over the samsaara. This same thing is being explained by Sankara in the last sloka of Bhaja Govindam but there Sankara stresses on the Guru’s feet. In fact, Guru and God are not different but one alone. It is God who has manifested in the form of the Guru to make the disciple realize his own very nature of God or Self.
In this part we see Jaya and Vijaya not knowing things properly and thereby they stop the Sanaka sages. Here Jaya and Vijaya are afflicted by the desire to protect Vishnu who is one without a second and the ultimate reality who doesn’t require any protection but in turn protects his devotees. Any action that a person does in the world has a reaction. Newton discovered the third law that “any action has an equal and opposite reaction” but way back to the Vedic periods, the Rishis have found out this reality and hence the law of karma or action. Any action whether it is good or bad has an equal reaction or fruit. The fruit may be got in the current birth or it may be got in the next births. Thus, the birth-death cycle continues until ones karmas are exhausted.
Does Karma or actions get exhausted by enjoying their fruits?
No never. A person does action to enjoy some pleasure. He enjoys the pleasure to do more action. This continues in a vicious circle. Therefore as long there are actions and fruits, there will be coming and going in the form of birth and death of the gross body either in this world or in another world.
Jaya and Vijaya’s action also had a fruit which was the curse uttered by the Sanaka sages. But it was not a curse really as Lord Vishnu told them that they will be born as demons who will worship or contemplate the Lord at all times because of ANGER. Even this type of devotion is worthy. Because of their contemplation, they realized the ultimate reality of Lord. It is only in human birth that a person can realized the ultimate reality of Lord – hence the human birth is very sacred indeed and it should never be wasted for just materialistic and sensual pleasures. A seeker should always try to contemplate on the Lord and thereby realize the ultimate reality in this very birth itself.
If action-fruits are always there, then how can a person overcome it?
Actions are present only when there is the DOER. When the doer exists, the enjoyer who enjoys the fruit also exists. The DOER of “I” is not the Self but the Ego. It is the Ego named “Hariram” which is posting this mail as the Self will never speak or write anything. But this EGO is not the real nature of each and every person. This Ego is limited and always changing (by the identification with various objects and things in the waking and dream state). But the real “I” always exist as “I” only. The “I” was the same in dream as well as in waking state. It was the same in youth as well as in middle age. This “I” is the Self. Once a seeker realizes that “I am not the Ego but the Self” all actions fall off. When actions themselves are not there, then there will no fruits. When actions and fruits are not there, then there will be no birth and death. At that time the seeker will realize the reality that actions and fruits were only an illusion in the reality of Brahman or God or Self. There can never be an action or fruit – as it is temporary and changing. Whatever exists is only the Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
This splitting of the Ego and the Self is the very aim of human life. When the Ego is split from the Self, then the Ego has no existence and it dies. This is what is termed as realization – the Self always exist but it is mixed with Ego. Once the Ego vanishes, then the Self alone exists – one without a second. Thus, at that time the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss which is the very nature of the Self.
This destruction of Ego can be achieved either through devotion or through scriptural study. Through scriptural study it is tough because the Ego is very tough indeed to kill as it will lure the person like anything. Thus the simplest way is through devotion alone. The devotee offers all actions unto the Lord and doesn’t expect any fruits – thus there is no DOER in the devotee. The devotee himself ceases to exist and what exists is only the Lord. Thus the Ego gets killed and the devotee merges into the Lord. Then the reality dawns that there is nothing here – neither the devotee nor the Lord whom he worshipped but the ultimate and non-dual reality of Lord or God alone.
The devotee need not worship the Lord with attachment but it can also be through anger also. Hiranyakashipu worshipped the Lord not through attachment but through anger. Always he was thinking about the Lord and hence was seeking the ultimate reality of Lord (through the way of anger). Thus, the compassionate Lord showed him that Lord is present everywhere and thereby came out of a pillar. Then the Lord killed his Ego and thereby made him realize his own very nature of Brahman or Lord.
Thus what is important for a devotee is constant remembrance of the Lord and offering of all actions unto the Lord. If this is there, then the devotee very soon realizes the ultimate reality of non-dual reality of Lord.
Sankara quotes a sloka from Vishnu Purana in his commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranaama
Jnaanatho ajnaanatho va api vaasudevasya keerthanaat
Tat sarvam layam yaathi thoyastham lavanasthathaa
If a person contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord, either knowingly or unknowingly, then he overcomes everything & realizes the ultimate reality of Lord even as salt merges into water (knowingly or unknowingly if we put salt in water it merges).
Thus the attitude with which a person contemplates on the Lord is not important but contemplation on the Lord at all times alone is important. Jaya and Vijaya took three births to realize the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby become eternal. The first birth was as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha. The second birth was as Raavana and Kumbakarna. The third birth was as Kamsa and Shishupaala.
These demons were great Vedantins who knew the scriptures. Ravana did not touch Sita because he knew the scriptures proclaimed that a person should touch a woman only with her consent. Ravana wrote the work called Siva Taandava stotra which is highly poetic and beautiful. Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Siva. All these clearly point out that these demons knew the scriptures but still they could not overcome the natural instincts or impulses in the mind. This was removed through constant contemplation of the Lord through those impulses.
Thus there is nothing wrong if a person is a sinner. If he remembers the Lord and then does the sin (as he is unable to ward off it suddenly because of addiction), then his mind becomes pure and such a person realizes the ultimate reality of Lord within no time.
Sri Krishna mentions about this in two places in Gita where he says that a person even though he might be doing the most bad action but remembering the Lord, he should be considered as a saint. Sri Krishna thus says that “O Arjuna! Know that my devotees never perish”. Thus it is important to constantly remember the Lord and offer all actions unto him.
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 25 – The Fall of Jaya and Vijaya (contd)
Thus, in the first birth on Earth, Jaya and Vijaya were Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha. As we all have learnt the story of how Hiranyaaksha was killed when he tried to attack the Lord (who was in the form of a boar helping out the Earth Goddess from beneath the water to the surface).
Thus, the Lord killed the asura Hiranyaaksha whose fame had spread throughout the worlds. Hiranyaaksha had defeated all the people and even Indra and the people at Swarga ran away fearing him as he was very powerful. But nothing is greater than the Lord in the world. Nothing is more powerful than the ultimate reality of God which alone is eternal and other things are only temporary and hence will vanish one day. Thus Vijaya ended his first life with his killing by the Lord himself.
Explanation
Whenever we read the various puranic stories, we need to go a little deeper into what exactly is the use of such a story in practical life. Each story in the puranas are weaved with the Upanishad truth so that normal and ordinary people are able to understand and grasp its meaning. Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras are very terse and hence not easy for a person to learn other than from a qualified Guru. But these puranas are simple and often they show us some specific import through stories. This import is what is essential and not the story as such.
Thus, if a person reads this story as says that Vishnu killed the asura and hence Vishnu is wicked – he is not doing dharma etc. then this means such a person hasn’t understood the real import of the puranic stories. This story is meant to show the nature of the Ego and that when the Lord is sought out, then the Ego is destroyed by the Lord himself.
Hiranyaaksha represents the Ego. The Ego sought out the Lord in order to defeat the Lord (It is interesting to note here what Sri Ramakrishna spoke about a jeeva trying to find out the Lord – it is as if a sea doll went to find out how huge is the ocean J It itself merged into the ocean and after that it didn’t die but it become one with the unlimited sea – thereby it changed from the limited being to the unlimited being which is full of BLISS alone). When the Ego sought out the Lord, a fight ensured. This is the state of each seeker in life. The seeker tries to seek the Lord through meditation. In normal times, the mind will be perfect. But the moment a seeker sits for meditation, the mind starts running like a monkey jumping from one thought to other --- Haven’t each one of us felt the same thing? To be frank, yes. Thus when the Ego and the Lord met, there was a fight – the Ego was struggling to make its own existence and not destroy itself. The Ego in each one of us is afraid of losing the individuality. WE all have a name, form etc. We are always stuck to it that we don’t want to lose it. This not wanting to lose is mainly because of fear of losing one’s own existence. But the reality is that there is losing of one’s own existence as one’s own existence is nothing but the Lord alone & Lord never ceases to exist. But in turn, when the Ego dies, the individual realizes his own very nature of Lord. He identifies his oneness with the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus, now there are no two entities of Lord and Ego but only the Lord – one without a second. This is what happened with Hiranyaaksha too. He was killed (the EGO was killed) which in turn made the Lord alone to remain behind.
Does the Ego really exist???
No, it has no existence at all. The Ego just seems to exist when the reality of Lord is not known. It is just an illusion in the reality even as the bubble seems to temporarily exist in the ocean but it has no existence at all. Ego is like the existence of an individual in dream. It seems to exist only until the reality that Lord alone exists is known.
If the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord is to be known, then the Ego has to be destroyed or killed. This is what is depicted by killing of Hiranyaaksha in Bhagavatham. For destroying the Ego, one has to seek the Self or the Lord. Thus the way to realization is to seek the Lord constantly with full vigour and force (vigour and force here means unconditionally and totally – a person should cry to such an extant as if he cannot live even for a second without the Lord – he should be like the fish which has come to the shore and is searching for water to live).
What is really the Ego (empirically)????
The Ego is very well depicted here by the term Hiranyaaksha. Hiranya means GOLD and AKSHA means eye. Thus Hiranyaaksha means once whose eyes are seeking GOLD. GOLD here is not used in the worldly sense but GOLD here means the sense objects in total. It is the sense objects which in form of the HIRANYA or golden deer lured Sita (or the mind) to send Rama (or the Self) in search of it and in the process lost itself to the ten sense organs in the form of RAVANA (sense organs limit the person by making him addicted and taking him away from the ultimate reality and giving him only sorrows and sufferings in the world). Thus sense objects are those which make the mind extroverted – which in turn can’t make it realize its own very nature of Self. When the mind is extroverted, it looks into various objects & searches or craves for it at all times. Thus it cannot merge the Ego or destroy the Ego and make itself realize the ultimate reality of Lord or Self. Therefore, it is essential that the mind is diverted from the sense objects to the Self or Lord. This is what Hiranyaaksha did. He conquered the external world but still was limited only and did not realize the ultimate reality of Lord. But finally he sought out the Lord and thereby was liberated from the Ego or the limited & illusory jeeva. This is what is termed as realization or liberation wherein the individual merges into the Lord & what remains behind is the Lord alone. Even though the individual might seem to exist as a limited being but he is always merged in the Lord & therefore he always rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Lord.
Now, the question will come – can asuras who do bad deeds get liberation or realization???
Yes, of course. This is not the view of the limited intellect of the individual named Hariram but Sri Krishna himself says this in two places in Gita (chapter 4 and Chapter 9).
Sri Krishna says in Chapter 9
Api chet suduraachaaro bhajathe maam ananya bhaak
Saadhureva sa mantavyah samyak vyavasitho hi sah
A person who has done the worst deed (Suduraachaaarah means the most worst that can be imagined) but still remembers ME while doing the deed, he is to be considered as saint because he is always engrossed in my thought.
OK, he is a saint but can he realize the Lord? Yes says Sri Krishna in the next sloka
Kshipram bhavathi dharmaatma shashvat shaanthim nigacchathi
Kaunteya prathijaaneehi na me bhakthah pranashyathi
He very soon (KShipram means immediately) becomes a dharmaamta (a person following dharma or following the path of realizing the Lord) and therefore attains ultimate peace (means realizes the ultimate reality of Lord).
O Arjuna! Know that my devotee (whether he be a doer of bad actions or good actions) never perishes!!!!
This is not a mere statement of Sri Krishna but it is promise by the Lord to protect his devotees and make them realize the ultimate reality of Lord at all times (it has been proved and worked out for many saints in the current time itself & any devotee or seeker would have surely experienced at least once the grace of Lord protecting him).
As Sankara says in Upadesha Saahasri that when a person gets the clear conviction that “I am the Self and not the body, then he realizes the Self even though he might not want it”. This is what really happened with Hiranyaaksha. He never wanted to know the ultimate reality of Lord but instead wanted to kill the Lord. This is termed as Vidvesha Bhakthi or devotion in the form of anger. But it is also an ananya bhakthi where the devotee seeks nothing but the Lord alone. Thus, he realized the ultimate reality of Lord.
If for a person who doesn’t really want realization but still seeks the Lord & gets realization, then what to speak about those who seek realization ardently by having devotion to the Lord!!!!!
Thus, it is essential to have complete devotion to the Lord and seek the Lord at all points of time so that the Ego is destroyed and the ultimate reality of Lord is realized.
Maitreya started explaining the purpose and the cause of the birth of Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha (and the reason why they were blessed by the Lord).
Once the Sanaka sages (the boy-saints who are always in their childhood even though they are the eldest of Brahma’s children – they are four in number Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara) by their yogic power went to Vaikunta to see Vishnu, the Lord after knowing whom there remains nothing else to be known. They passed through six gates and there were two young people brilliant & shining who were guarding the seventh gate. Since these sages don’t differentiate between anything as they perceive the Self everywhere, they started to enter through the gate. At this the gate keepers stopped them with their staff. These two gate keepers were called Jaya and Vijaya (brothers). The sanaka sages were angry and they cursed that Jaya and Vijaya be born on the earth. They proclaimed that a person will fear another only if he himself is bad. Similarly since they feared lest these saints might disturb or harm Vishnu, they stopped them. Thus their mind also was not pure. And hence they were cursed so as to be born on Earth where the mind is affected by the three characteristics of lust, greed and anger.
Hearing this curse of the saints, Jaya and Vijaya repented for their action. They immediately fell at the feet of the saints and asked pardon for the same. They asked the saints to take back their curse.
At this time, Lord Vishnu himself came down to where they were standing. The sanaka saints were more than satisfied as they could get a glimpse of the Lord. The Lord out of his compassion said to Jaya and Vijaya that it was with his consent that such a curse happened. He explained that once when he was immersed in Samadhi, his wife Lakshmi came to see him. They did not allow her to go in. And because of that, they were cursed by the sanaka sages. But Lord said to them that you will be born in the Earth as demons for three births, worship ME through anger and after that you will return to my abode and be always merged in the ultimate reality of Brahman.
Thus, the first birth of Jaya and Vijaya on Earth was as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha.
Explanation
Each and every person in the world are subjected to six main enemies which are KAAMA (desire), KRODHA (anger), LOBHA (greed), MOHA (delusion), MADHA (wanting what others have), MATSARYA (jealousy).
These are mentioned as six crocodiles in the ocean of samsaara. These are very tough and hence they do not let a person cross over the samsaara (crossing over is liberation or realization of the ultimate reality of Brahman or God and Self). The only way to escape from these crocodiles is to have oneself fully immersed in the tamarind of BHAKTHI or ultimate devotion to Lord. Crocodiles don’t attack if they see tamarind and hence a person easily crosses over the samsaara. This same thing is being explained by Sankara in the last sloka of Bhaja Govindam but there Sankara stresses on the Guru’s feet. In fact, Guru and God are not different but one alone. It is God who has manifested in the form of the Guru to make the disciple realize his own very nature of God or Self.
In this part we see Jaya and Vijaya not knowing things properly and thereby they stop the Sanaka sages. Here Jaya and Vijaya are afflicted by the desire to protect Vishnu who is one without a second and the ultimate reality who doesn’t require any protection but in turn protects his devotees. Any action that a person does in the world has a reaction. Newton discovered the third law that “any action has an equal and opposite reaction” but way back to the Vedic periods, the Rishis have found out this reality and hence the law of karma or action. Any action whether it is good or bad has an equal reaction or fruit. The fruit may be got in the current birth or it may be got in the next births. Thus, the birth-death cycle continues until ones karmas are exhausted.
Does Karma or actions get exhausted by enjoying their fruits?
No never. A person does action to enjoy some pleasure. He enjoys the pleasure to do more action. This continues in a vicious circle. Therefore as long there are actions and fruits, there will be coming and going in the form of birth and death of the gross body either in this world or in another world.
Jaya and Vijaya’s action also had a fruit which was the curse uttered by the Sanaka sages. But it was not a curse really as Lord Vishnu told them that they will be born as demons who will worship or contemplate the Lord at all times because of ANGER. Even this type of devotion is worthy. Because of their contemplation, they realized the ultimate reality of Lord. It is only in human birth that a person can realized the ultimate reality of Lord – hence the human birth is very sacred indeed and it should never be wasted for just materialistic and sensual pleasures. A seeker should always try to contemplate on the Lord and thereby realize the ultimate reality in this very birth itself.
If action-fruits are always there, then how can a person overcome it?
Actions are present only when there is the DOER. When the doer exists, the enjoyer who enjoys the fruit also exists. The DOER of “I” is not the Self but the Ego. It is the Ego named “Hariram” which is posting this mail as the Self will never speak or write anything. But this EGO is not the real nature of each and every person. This Ego is limited and always changing (by the identification with various objects and things in the waking and dream state). But the real “I” always exist as “I” only. The “I” was the same in dream as well as in waking state. It was the same in youth as well as in middle age. This “I” is the Self. Once a seeker realizes that “I am not the Ego but the Self” all actions fall off. When actions themselves are not there, then there will no fruits. When actions and fruits are not there, then there will be no birth and death. At that time the seeker will realize the reality that actions and fruits were only an illusion in the reality of Brahman or God or Self. There can never be an action or fruit – as it is temporary and changing. Whatever exists is only the Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
This splitting of the Ego and the Self is the very aim of human life. When the Ego is split from the Self, then the Ego has no existence and it dies. This is what is termed as realization – the Self always exist but it is mixed with Ego. Once the Ego vanishes, then the Self alone exists – one without a second. Thus, at that time the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss which is the very nature of the Self.
This destruction of Ego can be achieved either through devotion or through scriptural study. Through scriptural study it is tough because the Ego is very tough indeed to kill as it will lure the person like anything. Thus the simplest way is through devotion alone. The devotee offers all actions unto the Lord and doesn’t expect any fruits – thus there is no DOER in the devotee. The devotee himself ceases to exist and what exists is only the Lord. Thus the Ego gets killed and the devotee merges into the Lord. Then the reality dawns that there is nothing here – neither the devotee nor the Lord whom he worshipped but the ultimate and non-dual reality of Lord or God alone.
The devotee need not worship the Lord with attachment but it can also be through anger also. Hiranyakashipu worshipped the Lord not through attachment but through anger. Always he was thinking about the Lord and hence was seeking the ultimate reality of Lord (through the way of anger). Thus, the compassionate Lord showed him that Lord is present everywhere and thereby came out of a pillar. Then the Lord killed his Ego and thereby made him realize his own very nature of Brahman or Lord.
Thus what is important for a devotee is constant remembrance of the Lord and offering of all actions unto the Lord. If this is there, then the devotee very soon realizes the ultimate reality of non-dual reality of Lord.
Sankara quotes a sloka from Vishnu Purana in his commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranaama
Jnaanatho ajnaanatho va api vaasudevasya keerthanaat
Tat sarvam layam yaathi thoyastham lavanasthathaa
If a person contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord, either knowingly or unknowingly, then he overcomes everything & realizes the ultimate reality of Lord even as salt merges into water (knowingly or unknowingly if we put salt in water it merges).
Thus the attitude with which a person contemplates on the Lord is not important but contemplation on the Lord at all times alone is important. Jaya and Vijaya took three births to realize the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby become eternal. The first birth was as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha. The second birth was as Raavana and Kumbakarna. The third birth was as Kamsa and Shishupaala.
These demons were great Vedantins who knew the scriptures. Ravana did not touch Sita because he knew the scriptures proclaimed that a person should touch a woman only with her consent. Ravana wrote the work called Siva Taandava stotra which is highly poetic and beautiful. Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Siva. All these clearly point out that these demons knew the scriptures but still they could not overcome the natural instincts or impulses in the mind. This was removed through constant contemplation of the Lord through those impulses.
Thus there is nothing wrong if a person is a sinner. If he remembers the Lord and then does the sin (as he is unable to ward off it suddenly because of addiction), then his mind becomes pure and such a person realizes the ultimate reality of Lord within no time.
Sri Krishna mentions about this in two places in Gita where he says that a person even though he might be doing the most bad action but remembering the Lord, he should be considered as a saint. Sri Krishna thus says that “O Arjuna! Know that my devotees never perish”. Thus it is important to constantly remember the Lord and offer all actions unto him.
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 25 – The Fall of Jaya and Vijaya (contd)
Thus, in the first birth on Earth, Jaya and Vijaya were Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha. As we all have learnt the story of how Hiranyaaksha was killed when he tried to attack the Lord (who was in the form of a boar helping out the Earth Goddess from beneath the water to the surface).
Thus, the Lord killed the asura Hiranyaaksha whose fame had spread throughout the worlds. Hiranyaaksha had defeated all the people and even Indra and the people at Swarga ran away fearing him as he was very powerful. But nothing is greater than the Lord in the world. Nothing is more powerful than the ultimate reality of God which alone is eternal and other things are only temporary and hence will vanish one day. Thus Vijaya ended his first life with his killing by the Lord himself.
Explanation
Whenever we read the various puranic stories, we need to go a little deeper into what exactly is the use of such a story in practical life. Each story in the puranas are weaved with the Upanishad truth so that normal and ordinary people are able to understand and grasp its meaning. Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras are very terse and hence not easy for a person to learn other than from a qualified Guru. But these puranas are simple and often they show us some specific import through stories. This import is what is essential and not the story as such.
Thus, if a person reads this story as says that Vishnu killed the asura and hence Vishnu is wicked – he is not doing dharma etc. then this means such a person hasn’t understood the real import of the puranic stories. This story is meant to show the nature of the Ego and that when the Lord is sought out, then the Ego is destroyed by the Lord himself.
Hiranyaaksha represents the Ego. The Ego sought out the Lord in order to defeat the Lord (It is interesting to note here what Sri Ramakrishna spoke about a jeeva trying to find out the Lord – it is as if a sea doll went to find out how huge is the ocean J It itself merged into the ocean and after that it didn’t die but it become one with the unlimited sea – thereby it changed from the limited being to the unlimited being which is full of BLISS alone). When the Ego sought out the Lord, a fight ensured. This is the state of each seeker in life. The seeker tries to seek the Lord through meditation. In normal times, the mind will be perfect. But the moment a seeker sits for meditation, the mind starts running like a monkey jumping from one thought to other --- Haven’t each one of us felt the same thing? To be frank, yes. Thus when the Ego and the Lord met, there was a fight – the Ego was struggling to make its own existence and not destroy itself. The Ego in each one of us is afraid of losing the individuality. WE all have a name, form etc. We are always stuck to it that we don’t want to lose it. This not wanting to lose is mainly because of fear of losing one’s own existence. But the reality is that there is losing of one’s own existence as one’s own existence is nothing but the Lord alone & Lord never ceases to exist. But in turn, when the Ego dies, the individual realizes his own very nature of Lord. He identifies his oneness with the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus, now there are no two entities of Lord and Ego but only the Lord – one without a second. This is what happened with Hiranyaaksha too. He was killed (the EGO was killed) which in turn made the Lord alone to remain behind.
Does the Ego really exist???
No, it has no existence at all. The Ego just seems to exist when the reality of Lord is not known. It is just an illusion in the reality even as the bubble seems to temporarily exist in the ocean but it has no existence at all. Ego is like the existence of an individual in dream. It seems to exist only until the reality that Lord alone exists is known.
If the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord is to be known, then the Ego has to be destroyed or killed. This is what is depicted by killing of Hiranyaaksha in Bhagavatham. For destroying the Ego, one has to seek the Self or the Lord. Thus the way to realization is to seek the Lord constantly with full vigour and force (vigour and force here means unconditionally and totally – a person should cry to such an extant as if he cannot live even for a second without the Lord – he should be like the fish which has come to the shore and is searching for water to live).
What is really the Ego (empirically)????
The Ego is very well depicted here by the term Hiranyaaksha. Hiranya means GOLD and AKSHA means eye. Thus Hiranyaaksha means once whose eyes are seeking GOLD. GOLD here is not used in the worldly sense but GOLD here means the sense objects in total. It is the sense objects which in form of the HIRANYA or golden deer lured Sita (or the mind) to send Rama (or the Self) in search of it and in the process lost itself to the ten sense organs in the form of RAVANA (sense organs limit the person by making him addicted and taking him away from the ultimate reality and giving him only sorrows and sufferings in the world). Thus sense objects are those which make the mind extroverted – which in turn can’t make it realize its own very nature of Self. When the mind is extroverted, it looks into various objects & searches or craves for it at all times. Thus it cannot merge the Ego or destroy the Ego and make itself realize the ultimate reality of Lord or Self. Therefore, it is essential that the mind is diverted from the sense objects to the Self or Lord. This is what Hiranyaaksha did. He conquered the external world but still was limited only and did not realize the ultimate reality of Lord. But finally he sought out the Lord and thereby was liberated from the Ego or the limited & illusory jeeva. This is what is termed as realization or liberation wherein the individual merges into the Lord & what remains behind is the Lord alone. Even though the individual might seem to exist as a limited being but he is always merged in the Lord & therefore he always rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Lord.
Now, the question will come – can asuras who do bad deeds get liberation or realization???
Yes, of course. This is not the view of the limited intellect of the individual named Hariram but Sri Krishna himself says this in two places in Gita (chapter 4 and Chapter 9).
Sri Krishna says in Chapter 9
Api chet suduraachaaro bhajathe maam ananya bhaak
Saadhureva sa mantavyah samyak vyavasitho hi sah
A person who has done the worst deed (Suduraachaaarah means the most worst that can be imagined) but still remembers ME while doing the deed, he is to be considered as saint because he is always engrossed in my thought.
OK, he is a saint but can he realize the Lord? Yes says Sri Krishna in the next sloka
Kshipram bhavathi dharmaatma shashvat shaanthim nigacchathi
Kaunteya prathijaaneehi na me bhakthah pranashyathi
He very soon (KShipram means immediately) becomes a dharmaamta (a person following dharma or following the path of realizing the Lord) and therefore attains ultimate peace (means realizes the ultimate reality of Lord).
O Arjuna! Know that my devotee (whether he be a doer of bad actions or good actions) never perishes!!!!
This is not a mere statement of Sri Krishna but it is promise by the Lord to protect his devotees and make them realize the ultimate reality of Lord at all times (it has been proved and worked out for many saints in the current time itself & any devotee or seeker would have surely experienced at least once the grace of Lord protecting him).
As Sankara says in Upadesha Saahasri that when a person gets the clear conviction that “I am the Self and not the body, then he realizes the Self even though he might not want it”. This is what really happened with Hiranyaaksha. He never wanted to know the ultimate reality of Lord but instead wanted to kill the Lord. This is termed as Vidvesha Bhakthi or devotion in the form of anger. But it is also an ananya bhakthi where the devotee seeks nothing but the Lord alone. Thus, he realized the ultimate reality of Lord.
If for a person who doesn’t really want realization but still seeks the Lord & gets realization, then what to speak about those who seek realization ardently by having devotion to the Lord!!!!!
Thus, it is essential to have complete devotion to the Lord and seek the Lord at all points of time so that the Ego is destroyed and the ultimate reality of Lord is realized.
# posted by vedanta : 10:01 AM
