This is an article series. Please read all previous articles before reading this article. The URLs for all previous articles are located in the SPECIAL THOUGHTS section.
Aniruddha
Previously, we learnt that Pravaha Vaayu, a.k.a Sparsha Vaayu, is the Devata in Level 11 of Devata hierarchy and that he soaks up the intensity of the energy emitted by Soorya and steps it down to a level that the living beings on earth can absorb. Well, how do the living beings absorb this energy that has been stepped out for us in the atmosphere? The skin absorbs a good bit of the energy received on Earth from Soorya. But only a small amount of it is converted to usable metabolic energy. But plant life seems to absorb a tremendous amount of energy from Soorya and produce all kinds of vegetables and fruits which contain the energy essential for all animals. Humans and animals eat the vegetables & fruits, and absorb the energy contained in them.
However, we mostly ignore another way we absorb energy contained in the Vaayu Mandala. We breath in the air and absorb the energy contained in the air. While breathing is vital, essential and critical, and we do absorb energy as we breathe, the energy absorption is especially high when we are asleep. This is because, we always take longer breaths while sleeping and the energy expenditure is very minimal. My take is that the Devata who makes us take deeper breaths while we are asleep (and even though we are literally unaware of our own selves) is Aniruddha. He’s also the Abhimaani Devata for Garbha (womb) during the process of progeny. Like during the state of sleep, the embryo, too, will be in a state of minimal awareness and minimal energy expenditure. Aniruddha is also the Abhimaani Devata for Shankha that adorns the hand of Paramaatma.
Aniruddha is the son of Kaama, who is son of Shiva. Thus, Aniruddha is grandson of Shiva. We ought to pray that Aniruddha helps us surrender to the ones above as we enter the sleep state and thank him for energizing us through deep breathing while asleep.
Rati Devi
Quick search on the internet about “Rati” brings up the Wikipedia page, which states, “Rati is the Hindu goddess of love, carnal desire, lust, passion, and sexual pleasure”. Would we talk or even think about our own parents or grandparents in the same way? Then, how can one write like this about a Devata like this? How can one feel reverent after reading such a description about a Devata in the 10th level in the hierarchy? We should never think, talk or write about Devata-s so lightly. It never bodes well. We should always think of Devata-s with utmost reverence while situating our mind in a Saatvik state, just like how we think of our own parents and grandparents.
The Sanskrit word “Rati” means liking. The word “Jnyaana Rati” means “liking for knowledge”. Shree Krishna has stated in Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 12, Verse 3) “sarva bhoota hite rataah”, which means “those who have a liking for the well-being of everything in God’s creation”. The famous verse in praise of Shree Raaghavendra Swaami Ji goes “satya dharma rataaya cha” meaning “(the one) who has a liking for satya and dharma”.
With the above description for the word “Rati”, it becomes apparent that Rati Devi is the daughter of Daksha Prajaapati, who’s also a Devata in this 10th level of the Devata hierarchy. Rati Devi, as suggested by her name, is the Abhimaani Devata of “Liking (and not hating)”. She is the Abhimaani Devata for “Liking with an intent towards Loka Kalyaana”. Quite aptly so as she is the eternal consort of Kaama Deva (more on this in the future). We should pray to Rati Devi and request her to grant us Rati towards Jnyaana, Bhakti, Vairaagya, Satya, Dharma and Loka Kalyaana.
Shachi Devi
Shachi Devi is the consort of Indra. She is also referred to by the name Indraani. In Sanskrit, the word “Indra” refers to lordship. As the name suggests, Indraani is Abhimaani Devata for lordship and power. An interesting anecdote from Shreemad Bhaagavata is worth mentioning here because of its relevance to Shachi Devi. There came a time when Indra relinquished the throne of Deva Loka because of a Paapa he incurred after killing Vrutra. Thus, the position of Lordship of Deva Loka became vacant. Devata-s decided that King Nahusha, who was ruling the Earth at that time, was the most eligible candidate to hold the position of Indra temporarily. Therefore, the Devata-s approached Nahusha who gladly agreed to their request. However, once he reached Deva Loka, Nahusha lost his humility and demanded that Shachi Devi be his consort. He ordered the great Rushi-s to carry him in a palanquin and take him to Shachi Devi. Overcome by his urge to see Shachi Devi, he ended up arrogantly kicking one of the Rushi-s carrying his palanquin. The Rushi cursed him to become a python. Finally, Bheema Sena and Yudhishtira came to his rescue and he was released from his curse.
There are important lessons to be learnt from the above anecdote. Python is a creature belonging to the snake family and snakes don’t have legs. They can only slide with their body and always stay clinging to the ground. And among all the snakes, pythons are the biggest, and they can’t move very fast. They have to wait for the prey to come really close to them. Nahusha’s arrogance, his lustful urgency, and kicking the benevolent and knowledgeable Rushi-s turned him into a creature that is legless, moves slow and remains grounded. Therefore…
Lesson 1: Humility is of utmost importance for a leader, especially if one is tasked with leading an entire organization, company, town, city, state, country or, as in the case of Nahusha, the entire world.
Lesson 2: Nahusha is no ordinary Jeevaatma. In the hierarchy of Jeevaatma-s, he’s in the 19th level. But he was temporarily elevated to a position way higher than his natural level. Just like how an actor can sometimes be hired to play a villainous role, Devata-s too may be ordered to play a negative role, in order to emphasize a point to the whole world. For example, Karna is an Avataara of Soorya. But he played a negative role in Mahaabhaarata when he spoke unspeakable words about Draupadi Devi. So, regardless of whether Nahusha was pretending to be arrogant or he actually really became arrogant, the lesson for us is that when someone is elevated to a far greater role than his/her actual role, it should have been taken with utmost humility. We see this happening in society. People who were really poor once upon a time, and were very humble when poor, become rich and famous over time. But with fame and wealth, they become arrogant.
Lesson 3: Greatest of Jeevaatma-s, even Devata-s can fall from Swarga Loka because of their mistakes. We see many stories in Puraana-s about Devata-s, Gandharva-s, and Apsara-s getting cursed and coming down to take Avataara on earth. We, on the other hand, are just mere mortal Jeevaatma-s. Nahusha was a Chakravarti and had Paandava-s to save him. There are no such guarantees for us, nor is there any such hope. It’s better to avoid actions that run the risk of us being born as a snake or python because of our arrogance.
Lesson 4: Those who temporarily elevated Nahusha were actually eternally superior to him, and therefore, they wielded the ability to bring him down too. And that’s exactly what happened. If the manager of a company were temporarily elevated to the position of President of the company, then his role is limited to the role of the President for that temporary duration. The manager shouldn’t assume that he can desire the actual President’s wife. Lust will always make a man fall in others’ eyes. We all should know our limits and boundaries.
Let’s hope and pray that Shachi Devi grants us humility to use what little powers we’ve been granted for upholding Satya, Dharma, and do our part for Loka Kalyaana. As I write this article, 5 Indian states are going through elections to choose the next government. Let’s also hope and pray that the next government in these states will be formed by those who have a good sense of Dharma and are committed to striving to uphold it.
Swaayambhuva Manu
Earlier, when we learnt about the Devata-s in level 16, we had learnt about Para Kaala (100 Brahma years), which is how long the universe will exist. We had also learnt that each Brahma year has 360 Brahma Days and that each Brahma Day is divided into 14 Manvantara-s. We are currently in the 7th Manvantara, and it is called Vaivasvata Manvantara. The name of the Manu for the current Manvantara is Vaivasvata Manu, who is the son of Vivasvaan i.e., Soorya. The 1st Manvantara in the current day of Brahma is referred to as Svaayambhuva Manvantara. And the Manu for that Manvantara was Swaayambhuva Manu, who was sired by none less than Brahma himself. Brahma had sired Naarada, the 7 Rushi-s, the 4 Sana-s and had been urging them to continue the progeny in the universe. But they all refused and chose to stay celibate and pursue their path to Moksha. Therefore, Brahma sired Swaayambhuva Manu through all his masculine qualities and Shataroopaa through all his feminine qualities in such a way (and with necessary genetics) that they could marry and continue the progeny on earth.
Most importantly, Swaayambhuva Manu was instrumental in Paramaatma taking the Varaaha Avataara. As he was getting set to continue the progeny on earth, as per instructions from his father i.e., Brahma, the earth itself was thrown off of its orbit around the Sun by Hiranyaaksha and sank to the bottom of the Garbhodaka ocean. This may either be an ocean in some other planet, which the astronomers are yet to discover, or just the vast space outside the boundaries of the universe. Bottom line is, the Earth was Swaayambhuva Manu’s Karma Bhoomi. When it sank to an ocean, Swaayambhuva Manu lost his Karma Bhoomi. So, he had no choice but to humbly ask his father Brahma as to where he should do his Karma now. To remediate the situation, Brahma escalated the request to his superior i.e., Paramaatma and that resulted in the Varaaha Avataara. Hiranyaaksha was killed after a lengthy battle and the earth was restored back into its orbit around the Sun.
Apparently, a Russian Scientist by the name Immanuel Velikovsky has written a book by the name “Worlds in Collision” that received great admiration from none less than Albert Einstein himself. In this book, apparently, Velikovsky writes that the Earth has been thrown off its orbit twice in the past. Apparently, he also mentions that it is not known how the Earth got back into its orbit, but that the ancient Hindu scriptures talk about Varaaha incarnation of God, who is credited with putting the Earth back into its orbit. So, going by the above accounts, the Earth has been thrown off of its orbit twice, and the Varaaha incarnation of Paramaatma is the one who put it back in its orbit both times. Even according to Shreemad Bhaagavata Puraana, the earth was thrown off of its orbit twice… both times it was caused by Hiranyaaksha, and both times, it was restored back into the orbit by Varaaha Avataara of Paramaatma.
But, why think about all that now? Whatever happened is history. Of what use is it to us now?
Well, we have to think about it this way. Swaayambhuva Manu lost his Karma Bhoomi, and therefore, he prayed. Don’t we see people losing their Karma Bhoomi too? Youngsters join Multi-National Companies, and they get to work under situations forcing them to convert to some other religion, forcing them to eat beef, forced to go to parties in the name of team building activities, and therein being forced to do unmentionable immoral acts, or risk getting dumped with a lot of extra work or even risk getting fired.
These are all problems pretty much everyone faces every day. Those who strive to gather a sense of Dharma and strive to do Karma for Loka Kalyaana don’t find any place anywhere in the above compliance stipulations. They lose their Karma Bhoomi to either reservations or company policies or deceit. Their resources are getting stolen, and law enforcement agencies ignore them. How should such people get back on track? The guidance I’ve received is that one ought to think of how Swaayambhuva Manu handled this situation and how Paramaatma took the Varaaha Avataara to put Swaayambhuva Manu back on track. Swaayambhuva Manu is basically our ancestor. Let’s hope that he continues to pray that modern-day Hiranyaaksha-s don’t steal our Karma Bhoomi from us and throw us off of our orbit around Paramaatma. Let’s think of lord Shree Varaaha Swaami and pray that he makes our lives revolve around him and be spent in his service.
Bruhaspati
In Sanskrit, the word “Bruhat” means “Big” or “Superior”. Among all the insentient, the one that’s the most superior are the Veda-s. Just like how “Ganapati” means “Lord of Gana-s”, the one who is the Lord of Veda-s is “Bruhaspati”. This is, perhaps, one interpretation of the word “Bruhaspati”. So, who exactly is the “Lord of the Veda-s”? We learnt this at the very beginning about what Shree Krishna declares in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 15 i.e., “vedai: cha sarvai: aham eva vedya:” meaning “I’m the one who is experienceable through the entirety of Veda-s”. Thus, Paramaatma himself is truly “Bruhaspati”.
We hear the word “Bruhaspati” specifically in Shaanti Mantra-s such as “swastino bruhaspatir dadaatu” and “sham na indro bruhasati:”. The word “Swasti” means “Well-being,” and the word “sham” refers to something good. In other words, well-being (and everything good) requires appropriate knowledge of the Veda-s… not just for us mere mortals, but for even the Devata-s. And all knowledge has to come from a Guru Paramparaa i.e., lineage of Guru-s. Earlier, we learnt about many Rushi-s in the hierarchical levels 16, 15, and 14. However, there’s also a great Devata in level 10 who is referred to by the name Bruhaspati. He is superior to all the Rushi-s mentioned earlier, and thus aptly suited to be the much-needed Guru of all Devata-s.
For example, the speed limit in most Interstate Highways in USA is 65 MPH (about 100 KMH). Citizens are to comply with the speed limit while driving on these highways. Suppose a certain citizen believes that the speed limit is 100 MPH, and drives that fast, then such a person will get caught by the police and will get ticketed or may even get arrested. Similarly, if someone else were to believe that the speed limit is 35 MPH and drives that slow when all other vehicles are driving at 65 MPH, then this may cause accidents. The point to be noted is that we never benefit from misinterpreting the laws… nor do we benefit from having a wrong belief about what the law is, regardless of how strong the belief may be… nor do citizens have any ability to change any of the laws. The benefit is ALWAYS drawn from a correct understanding of the laws and complying with them. Simply being rebellious is not the way to change the laws. The power to change the laws is only with those who are elected to the legislature.
Similarly, there are laws about this universe… and these laws are eternal. No one has the authority to change these laws. The only way to benefit is from gaining a correct understanding of the eternal laws (which we refer to as Veda and Sanaatana Dharma) and complying with them. Misinterpreting the laws as per our whims and fancies, giving ourselves tickets to heaven and access to 72 chaste girls will not land anyone in heaven, but will certainly book a place in eternal hell. Devata-s have Abhimaana over various organs and aspects of our bodies. Therefore, there is an even higher necessity for them to have a clear understanding of the eternal laws. Bruhaspati is the Guru through whom they gain this knowledge. Let’s hope and pray that Deva Guru Bruhaspati kindly improve our understanding of the Veda-s as much as we deserve, and also improve our sense of Dharma.
There is one more Devata in the 10th level, and he is Daksha Prajaapati. There is a lot to be written in the context of Daksha Prajaapati and we’ll get into that next week.
