This is an article series. Please read all previous articles before reading this article. The URLs for all previous articles are located at www.special thoughts.com section.
Continuing on with the hierarchy of Devata-s, let’s look at the venerable Jeevaatma-s in Level 15.
Bhrugu Rushi
There are various stories in the Puraana-s, Raamaayana, Mahaabhaarata, and Upanishat-s which hint in various ways about the factualness of the hierarchy of Devata-s. For example, all of us will have read various comics depicting various stories from our Puraana-s where a certain Asura has become too powerful and is creating havoc in the entire universe. So, Devata-s are assembled to discuss what can be done to destroy the Asura.
In the assembly of Devata-s, Devendra urges Agni to go destroy the Asura. Agni tries his best, but is unsuccessful. Next is Varuna’s turn. He too tries unsuccessfully and returns. Then it is Vaayu’s turn. He doesn’t succeed either. Then Devendra makes an attempt himself… but again in vain. So, all the Devata’s decide to approach Paarvati Devi. In some cases, Paarvati takes an Avataara and destroys the Asura. But in other cases, she too defers to Shiva. Shiva takes an Avataara and destroys the Asura, in some cases. But in other cases, he too defers to Brahma. But since Brahma does not take Avataara on the earth, he defers all the Devata-s to Vishnu. Have you not heard stories along the above lines? Does it not show that there was/is a hierarchy of Devata-s and that you, kind of, did know about it already, but hadn’t paid attention to it or hadn’t thought about it that way?
There are many such stories. One such story that we all will have heard pertains to Bhrugu Rushi. Pleaded by all the Rushi-s on the banks of the river Saraswati, Bhrugu Rushi sets out to determine who among the Trimoorti-s is the most superior. He first reaches Satya Loka, where Brahma pretends to not pay any heed to Bhrugu Rushi’s arrival. So, Bhrugu Rushi curses Brahma that may there be no Pooja to Brahma. Then he goes to Kailaasa to meet Shiva, where he sees Shiva and Paarvati are involved in Laasya, and they too pretend to ignore Bhrugu Rushi. So, Bhrugu Rushi curses Shiva too, that may there be Pooja to Shiva Linga. Then he travels to Vaikuntha with a hope to meet Vishnu. But Vishnu is reclining on Shesha, pretends to not know about Bhrugu Rushi’s arrival and does not pay attention to Bhrugu Rushi either. So, pretending to be overcome by anger, Bhrugu Rushi kicks Vishnu on his chest. But Vishnu wakes up and immediately attends to Bhrugu Rushi and asks him “Is your leg hurting?”. This compassion touches Bhrugu Rushi and he declares that there be elaborate Pooja to Vishnu everywhere with all adornments and decorations.
You may’ve noticed that the word “pretend” has been used in all the instances in the above incident. This is deliberate and intended to emphasize that, be it Bhrugu Rushi or the Trimoorti-s… they are all very well aware of the hierarchy and role of the various Devata-s. The stories, such as the above, are to convey subtle messages to spiritual seekers, and ultimately, for the benefit of mere mortals. As explained previously with various examples, this creation is a common ground for all 3 types of Jeevaatma-s where their manifestation is visible to everyone. Therefore, messages must be kept subtle so that the Saatvika Jeevaatma-s get the correct message, while the Raajasa and Taamasa Jeevaatma-s either misunderstand it or don’t understand it at all. Those who are spying and gathering crucial information about an enemy, relay the information gathered subtly and secretively, don’t they? In the early 2000s, the Indian cricket team had 4 Kannada speaking players. They would always communicate in Kannada so as to maintain and convey messages secretively. It is the same way in the spiritual domain too. Everything can’t be conveyed openly because of the danger it poses in knowledge falling into the wrong hands.
It also needs to be noted that Bhrugu Rushi is in level 15 in the hierarchy of Jeevaatma-s, whereas the other Devata-s mentioned earlier are all far higher in the hierarchy. Therefore, technically… Bhrugu Rushi’s curse should not affect the Devata-s higher up in the hierarchy. Yet, the Devata-s higher-up in the hierarchy do accept the curses from the Devata-s below them. And the spiritual seekers have benefited from this in huge ways. One such example is pertaining to the Saalagrama Shilaa. We’ll not digress to explain this here, but hope to get to this topic in future.
You may be wondering why is it that all of the above incidents from various Shaastra-s are being mentioned in the context of Bhrugu Rushi. It is because Bhrugu Rushi took the trouble to illustrate the hierarchy of the Trimoorti-s that Shree Krishna mentions his name in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10, Verse 25. Bhrugu Rushi (level 15) and all the Rushi-s mentioned in level 16 earlier are sons of Brahma, and all are referred to as Maharshi-s. And Bhrugu Rushi is superior to all of them for the above reason.
Here again, Shree Krishna conveys another subtle message. Infinite is something that the finite can never comprehend. Think about it! What can/do we know about Infinity? Here’s an example I’ve heard in some discourses. Suppose we go to the Great Himalayan mountain range. We may take some pictures, some selfies, and share them on social media and claim that we saw the great Himalaya. But in reality, how much of the great Himalayan mountain range did we see? The mountain ranges from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. So, what we really see will always be a tiny portion of the great Himalaya mountain range. When such is the case with just one mountain range, how about the entire earth? How much of the Earth have we really seen? And, this earth is like a tiny speck of dust compared to the size of the entire solar system, even smaller compared to the size of the Milky Way, and infinitesimally small in comparison to the size of the entire universe. And Paramaatma is infinitely large compared to the size of the entire universe. Therefore, it’s logical to conclude that the finite Jeevaatma can only see a certain facet of the infinite Paramaatma at a time… Never the entirety of the infinite Paramaatma. Ever! And therefore, Shree Krishna recommends to Arjuna in Chapter 10 to take note of whatever is the biggest, largest, brightest, greatest and so on… and imagine Paramaatma to be having all those benevolent qualities in a magnitude even greater than those superlative things.
Shree Krishna gives several examples to emphasize his point, such as:
- Among the Aditya-s (the 12 sons of Aditi, whose names have been mentioned in previous articles, and who take care of us in our old age) Paramaatma is like Vishnu who took the Vaamana Avataara (Vaamana is also known as Urukrama)
- Among the brightest that we’ve seen, Paramaatma is like the Sun
- Among the 11 Rudra-s, Paramaatma is like Shankara (Shiva)… and so on.
The syllable “Ru” stands for Truth, Fact, Reality. The word “Rushi” means someone who has personally experienced the truth. Maharshi literally means a “Great Rushi”. And Shree Krishna declares that among the Greatest of those who know The Ultimate Truth through their personal experience, Paramaatma is like Bhrugu Rushi.
There is another very important reason why Shree Krishna refers to Bhrugu Rushi. Paramaatma is Infinite, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and full of infinite benevolent qualities and has no malevolence. The best words in praise of Paramaatma are the Veda-s. The importance of the Veda-s and their flawlessness have already been elaborated on in previous articles. But the Jeevaatma is finite. How can the finite Jeevaatma connect with the Infinite Paramaatma? This connection between the finite Jeevaatma and the Infinite Paramaatma happens through Praana (also referred to as Praanaagni, Praana Vaayu, Pavana, Pavamaana, and many more). In other words, Praana means life. We are living because Praana is connecting us, the finite Jeevaatma-s, to the infinite Paramaatma. When Praana leaves the body, it is called “Death”. Therefore, Praanaagni Devata is vital for our very existence is the very reason why we are alive. So, at what level is Praana in the Devataa hierarchy? That’s a very elaborate topic for future. What’s important to mention in the current context is that there is a Sookta in Rig Veda in praise of Praanaagni. And this Sookta came as a revelation to Bhrugu Rushi, thus justifying why Shree Krishna himself refers to Bhrugu Rushi while explaining the various Vibhooti-s of Paramaatma in the most venerated Bhagavad Gita.
Prasooti
You may’ve read some elaboration on the topic of Vedic timeline in the previous article titled “Devatas in Level 16”. Therein, it was mentioned that the current day of Brahma is divided into 14 time periods and that each such time period is referred to as a Manvantara. It was also mentioned that we’re currently in the 7th such Manvantara. And in the context of explaining the venerable Sapta Rushi-s who are the Level 16 of the hierarchy of Devata-s, it was mentioned that they originated directly from Brahma himself back in the 1st Manvantara, which was known as Saayambhuva Manvantara. It was also mentioned that the Manu for that Manvantara was referred to as Saayambhuva Manu, and his consort was Shataroopa Devi (about whom we hope to see some elaboration in future). What’s relevant to be mentioned in the current context is that Saayambhuva Manu and his consort Shataroopa Devi had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. The 3 girls were named Aakooti, Devahooti and Prasooti, who are among the venerable ones in this hierarchical level 15.
Prasooti is the consort of Daksha Prajaapati. Together they had several important children (some scholars count up to 60), many of them girls and almost all of them are venerable and well known. We’ll name some of them below:
- Sati – consort of Shiva, who attended a Yajnya being performed by her father, Daksha Prajaapati, despite being not invited and despite his disregard for his son-in-law, Shiva. And when Sati felt that her consort Shiva was being disrespected, she jumped into the fire of the Yajnya Kunda and immolated herself, thus ruining the entire Yajña. Following this, she incarnates again as Paarvati, daughter of Parvata Raaja and then marries Shiva again. This is one of the reasons why Shiva and Paarvati are taken as the ideal Dampati (couple), and whose Pooja is rewarded with good harmony between married couple.
- Khyaati – consort of Rushi Bhrugu
- Swaahaa & Swadhaa – consort of Agni. Swaaha is invoked in conveying our offerings to the Devata-s, and Swadhaa is invoked in conveying our offerings to the Pitru Devata-s.
- All 7 consorts of the 7 Rushi-s of Saayambhuva Manvantara are daughters of Prasooti. Their names are Sambhooti (consort of Rushi Mareechi), Anasooyaa (consort of Rushi Atri), Smriti (consort of Rushi Angiras), Preeti (consort of Rushi Pulastya), Kshamaa (consort of Rushi Pulaha), Sannati (consort of Rushi Kratu), Oorjaa (consort of Rushi Vasishtha)
- Chitti – consort of Rushi Atharva
Agni
The Vedic knowledge is that there are 8.4 million (84 Lakh) different species on earth. Per our own observation, among them, most species do not have a way to produce a sound through their mouth… such as the plants (herbs, shrubs, creepers, trees, and so on), the numerous species of fish, the microscopic organisms, the insects, and most reptiles (if not all). Only the birds and mammals have the ability to produce some sound through their mouth. Though these animals can produce a variety of sounds that have specific meanings, none of them are comparable to how well developed the human vocal organ is. The vocal organ involves the lungs, the diaphragm, the vocal cord, the tongue, the cheeks, the chin muscles, the lips. The Abhimaani Devata for the vocal organ is Agni. There is no chanting any Veda Mantra without Agni’s involvement and grace on humans. And thus, it is very apt that the very first Sookta of Rig Veda is Agni Sookta and the very first word of Rig Veda is Agni.
Back in the article titled “Ganapati”, we saw the relationship between the 5 Bhoota-s (elements), the 5 Tanmaatra-s (senses) and the 5 Jnyaanendriya-s (sensory organs). The Tanmaatra associated with Agni (the insentient fire) is Roopa (form). The 2 Bhoota-s (elements) subtler than Agni, namely Vaayu and Aakaasha do not have Roopa (form) while the 2 Bhoota-s (elements) grosser than Agni, namely Aaapa and Pruthvi do have Roopa (form). Thus, Agni (the insentient fire) is the interface between seeable and the non-seeable worlds, and Agni (the sentient Abhimaani Devata of insentient fire) is a link between us who live in this seeable world and the Devata-s who exist in the non-seeable world. This is one of the main reasons behind Agni being an excellent icon in the Vedic way of worship.
The insentient Agni represents many auspicious qualities of Paramaatma as below:
- Agni is never seen falling downwards (like char coal) or blowing sideways (like smoke). It is always seen moving upwards against gravity, hinting to us Paramaatma is always beyond the cusp of the 3 Guna-s (Satva, Raja and Tama) and hence referred to by the name Nirguna. In other words, the word “Nirguna” must always be understood and interpreted as “Nistraigunya”, i.e., unaffected by the 3 Guna-s, namely Satva, Raja, and Tama.
- Agni gives warmth when you keep your distance and burns if you mess with it
- Agni purifies anything that touches it. One scholar stated that when Agni touched Lankaa, it got purified of all the sinful activities that evil Raavana was engaged in. This purification was necessary before installing Vibheeshana as the king after Raavana’s death.
- Agni from one source can be used to light up another without the first source losing anything, just like how Infinity – any finite number = Infinity (∞ – 1 = ∞). Thus, Agni represents the infinite Paramaatma who is inexhaustible.
- Agni gives a very soothing light. Be it a devotee who reverently watches a Moorti installed inside a Garbha Gruha in a temple during Aarati or people sitting around a campfire for enjoyment, or a candlelight vigil… Agni is soothing, relaxing, and relieving. As we know, people pay a lot of money for a candlelight dinner, even though a simple dinner under an electric lamp would be much cheaper.
Agni is one of the Dik Devata-s. He is the Abhimaani Devata for the South East direction and protects us from all dangers coming towards us in our South East direction. And thus, he is also one of the Abhimaani Devata-s for our ears, helping us grasp sounds originating from our southeast.
In the context of the word “Nirguna” mentioned above, it is to be noted that almost all the so-called scholars (who bookishly repeat some non-duality based nonsensical interpretation of the most venerable Veda-s without caring for any personal experience or even going against their very own personal experience and consciousness) explain the word Nirguna as someone without any auspicious qualities. This explanation of “qualitylessness” of Paramaatma is not just stupid and irrational, it is highly offending to the Paramaatma who is full of infinite auspicious qualities. And if this is the line of thought that underlays the worship in a temple, then such stupid and irrational philosophies can only please the Raajasik and Taamasik Jeevaatma-s. And thus, when such Raajasik and Taamasik Jeevaatma-s are attracted to the temple vicinity, it negatively affects everyone who partakes in such a temple’s activities. And when this happens in almost ALL the temples in the entire landscape of a town, or district or state or an entire country… then the entire space (town, district, state or country) will be filled with Raajasik and Taamasik Jeevaatma-s. This is what causes buildup of an atmosphere filled with evil vibes that leads towards radicalization, persecution, large scale crimes along religious lines, destruction of temples, wars, genocide and so on. This is why it is very important to evaluate our philosophical line of thought very carefully.
Some of the other names for Agni are Paavaka, Sapta Jihvaa, Vahni, Anala, Hutaashana, and Jaataveda. My personal interpretation of the word Jaataveda is… the word “Jaata” means something that was born, and the word “Veda” is to know through personal experience. As explained in a previous article “Devatas in Level 18 – Part 3”, Agni is one of the 8 Vasu-s and is hierarchically superior to the other 7 Vasu-s. It was also explained that the Vasu-s are the Abhimaani Devata-s for our childhood which involves our physical and mental growth and transformation. So, in a way Agni is the first one aware of our birth and compassionately takes over our growth to adulthood. Growth is extremely crucial, especially among animals as they are born in the wild and are extremely susceptible to attack from predators.
Since Agni, among the 8 Vasu-s, is higher up in the Devata hierarchy, Shree Krishna has suggested that Paramaatma should be thought of as Paavaka (Agni) among all the Vasu-s, by saying “vasoonaam paavakashchaasmi”.
With all the aforesaid qualities and benevolent characteristics, the insentient Agni and the sentient in-dweller Agni Devata are most often invoked in the process of Homa. Yajamaana (the one performing the Homa) requests Agni to carry the offerings to various Devata-s (perhaps as per the hierarchical order). During this process, various Devata-s may actually show a quick glimpse of themselves as their compassionate gesture. But it happens too quickly for our mere mortal eyes to capture. But when captured, thanks to modern-day photography, these forms in Agni can be really amazing. For example, the profile picture used for this “SPECIAL THOUGHTS” section of this portal was taken on Jan 2, 2024 while performing Shree Raama 108 Naama Homa at our home in anticipation of the Praana Pratishtaapana of Raam Lalla at Ayodhyaa. The date was 2-01-2024, which adds up to 11 (which represents Shiva, numerologically).
Next week, we’ll elaborate on the venerable Devata in Level 14 and up.
