Saturday, April 17, 2010

Basics of Dvaita - II

JAI VIJAYARAYA,


JAI BEDI ANJANEYA,

HARE SRINIVASA



Please forgive any mistakes of mine and please point out learning's, I am ever willing to learn.



As discussed in the end of the last article, we will see some examples as to how sholkas are misinterpreted.



The misinterpretations can be broadly classified as three categories.



1) Tamsic puranas ( Source is invalid)



2) Incomplete statements ( Only part of the statements are considered, the whole context will give the true and complete meaning )



3) Encrypted texts - The text is valid and context is complete, but still statements are misleading.

4) Incorrect translations - People try to substitute dictionary meanings for certain words.
For Ex: If you are reading, a medical report; though the report is in English; you can't decipher the complete meaning through an English Dictionary. You need a medical dictionary/glossary where the terms are defined and well documented.

For 1) we have already seen the concept of asura mohana.

For 2) & 3) we shall see some examples.


For 2) Complete Context consider this sholka from Bhagvad Gita


aparyaptam tad asmakam

balam bhismabhiraksitam

paryaptam tv idam etesam

balam bhimabhiraksitam
1.10



ayanesu ca sarvesu

yatha-bhagam avasthitah

bhismam evabhiraksantu

bhavantah sarva eva hi
1.11



TRANSLATION



Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited.
1.10



Now all of you must give full support to Grandfather Bhisma, standing at your respective strategic points in the phalanx of the army.
1.11



The focus is on the words "paryapt" and "aparyapt", the translations are limited and unlimited.

Even in basic Hindi these words mean "Sufficient" and "Insufficient".



Let us assume that in Sanskrit there are two meanings for this word. Which one to take? Look at the Next Line, which one makes more sense. Let us subsitute the other meaning

and see which makes more sense.



Original Translation from ISKON site:

Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited.
1.10

Now all of you must give full support to Grandfather Bhisma, standing at your respective strategic points in the phalanx of the army.
1.11



Substituted Translation:

Our strength is insufficient, and we are protected by Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is sufficient
1.10

Therefore, all of you must give full support to Grandfather Bhisma, standing at your respective strategic points in the phalanx of the army.
1.11



Which one makes more sense, in terms of continuity, context and completness. The point to be noted here is kali himself is proclaiming Vayu Jeevthoammatva.



For 3) Encrypted Texts consider this example from Valmiki Ramayana Sundar Kanda



evam ukto hari varaH tadaa rakSho gaNa iishvaram

5-50-12

abraviin na asmi shakrasya yamasya varuNasya vaa


dhanadena na me sakhyam viShNunaa na asmi coditaH

5-50-13

jaatiH eva mama tu eShaa vaanaro aham iha aagataH




12, 13. evan= thus; uktaH= spoken; harishreSTaH= Hanuma the foremost of monkeys; tadaa= then; abraviit= spoke; rakSogaNeshvaram= to Ravana the Lord of demons; (as follows); naasmi= I am not (a messenger); shakrasya= of Indra; yamasya= or of Yama; varuNasye= or of Varuna; me= to me; na shakhyam= there is no friendship; dhanadena= with Kubera the god of riches; na= nor; choditaH= instigated; viSNunaa= by Vishnu; eSaa= this; mame eva= is just my; jaatiH= form of existence; aham= I; vaanaraH= am a monkey; aagataH= who came; iha= here.



Hearing the words of Prahasta, Hanuma spoke to Ravana the Lord of demons as follows, "I am not a messenger of Indra or Yama or Varuna. I have no friendship with Kubera the god of riches, nor am I instigated by Vishnu. This is just my form of existence, by my very birth. I am a monkey who came here."



Now let us focus on the part " viShNunaa na asmi coditaH " On the surface, it seems as though Hanuman says he is not inspired by Vishnuh.



Let us try to analyze this part and see how the three streams would elaborate on this shloka.



* The interpretations for the Advaita and Vishisht Advaita are made up, but I have read enough material on the web to say that these meanings are not far from what you would find.

Both of them have the same base. That you are a spark of the divine. Tatvavada clearly states the Panchabeda and says you and GOD are totally different.





Advaita : Since Hanuman, Rama and all of us are the same. Hanuman is teaching us we are the same as Vishnu and he is not above us.



Vishisht Advaita: Hanuman is the very embodiment of concentration, if he concentrates hard enough, if he self identifies with Rama, then he will become Rama. Hence he need not be inspired by Vishnu.



Tatvavada( Dvaita ) : Now see the magic of Srimadacharya :)

Step 1: Is the source Vaild ? Yes

Step 2: Is the context complete ? Yes. Taking these two shlokas is complete

Step 3: Is the text going against Hari Sarvothamma and Vayu Jivothamma ? Possibly

Step 4: Is the shloka encoded? Yes

Step 5: If sholka is encoded then Decode it.



Decoding Sholkas:



evam ukto hari varaH tadaa rakSho gaNa iishvaram

5-50-12

abraviin na asmi shakrasya yamasya varuNasya vaa


dhanadena na me sakhyam viShNunaa na asmi coditaH

5-50-13

jaatiH eva mama tu eShaa vaanaro aham iha aagataH




observe the order of the devatas:

1) Shakra

2) Yama

3) Varuna

4) Kubera

5) Vishnu



Anyone who does Sandhyavandana will recognize this order immidiately.

This is the order of Dik Namaskaras !!!

1) Shakra ( Indra ) - Pracheeyi Disha - East

2) Yama - Avacheeyi Disha - South

3) Varuna - Prateecheeyi Disha - West

4) Kubera - Udeeycheeyi Disha - North



The next Disha is Urdhwaeeyi Disha which is where the Surya is.

And Vishnu is the main among the adityas



Since the remaining are all directions, Vishnu here means the Aditya named Vishnu.



This is one level.



Level 2 :

Hanuman has conquered Vajra, Death ( Chiranjeevi ), the Ocean, desire for Wealth. He also states that he is superior to Sun.

This also clears up the fact that he received instruction from Sun to set an example for us and not for himself.





Level 3 :

Hanuman resides in the hrydaya kamala of all jivas, which is above the aditya manadala ( Solar plexus )



Thus, in this way all conflicts are resolved, the reason why sholkas are encoded is already mentioned.

There is absolutely no compromise with Krishna, you need to understand the meaning of each and every sholka completely and truly and you need to bring it in your daily life ( anusandana )



Level 4:

Hanuman is actually teaching us taratamya that he is above all the aforementioned devatas.


For 4) One popular misconception is that Hanuman means swollen cheek. Because amarkosha translates hanu to cheek.
But in Sundarkanda; Sri Hanuman clearly gives the meaning of the word Hanuman
"hanuumaan iti vikhyaato loke svena eva karmaNaa
By my activity alone, I am renowned as Hanuma in this world".

Therefore the Spiritual glossary has to be taken into interpretation instead of the dictionary.
Shastras are filled with such definitions. One more such example

pitaha -durMargat udrate sanmarga stapithanam -  In pratah sanklapa gadyam, Sri Raghavendra swamy explains that one who puts us in the right marga from the wrong marga is called  Pitaha
Since Vayu Devaru does this for us he is called Pitaha. There are many instances in which Vayu Devaru has guided peole from the wrong direction
Ex. Hanuman reminded Sugreeva when he forgot his promise to Sri Rama

Jai Bharateesha,
Hrishikesh.S.S.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Basics of Dvaita Philosophy

Jai Vijayaraya !


Jai Bedi Anjaneya!

Hare Srinivasa !


Many people, refuse to accept simple concepts like asura mohana. This is an attempt to simplify this concept.
This foundation is required for many more complex concepts.

Jivas

____________

Q1) What are classification of Jivas?

A1)

Satvik – Peace Loving, Spreading good

Rajasic – On the Fence, goes with majority

Tamsic – Violence loving, destructive mentality

These are broad classifications, there are intermediate classifications.

But the spectrum starts with Sattvik and ends with Tamsic, Rajasic being the middle portion.

Some people like to go to temples, some people hate temples and love clubs, some people like both

( Temples and clubs are used metaphorically for Satvika and Tamsik places not literally )

Satvik people love to do good, hence enjoy heaven.

Tamsik people love to be “bad” hence suffer in hell.

Rajasik toggle around between heaven and hell.



Asura Mohana

___________________

Q2) What is asura mohana?

A2) Diverting tamsic people away from Sri Vishnu worship is the core theme of asura mohana.



Q3) Why asura mohana?

A3) If tamsik people start Sri Vishnu worship then they will be soliciting protection of the highest order.

Hence, every effort is made to ensure that the tamsik people steer clear from Vishnu aradhana

Every asura has prayed to Brahma or Shiva and has been killed by Sri Vishnu or Shiva.

The glorious exceptions being Prahlad and his grandson Bali.

Everyone who worships Sri Vishnu is promised his protection.

Because of the very nature of tamsik people, every effort has to be made divert them away from Sri Vishnu aradhane.

It is like ensuring terrorists are not armed with nuclear weapons



Q4) Scripture proof for Asura Mohana?

A4)

a. The Mohini avatara during Samudra Manthana for distributing Amrutha is classic Asura Mohana.

Vayu devaru is the abhimana devata for Amruta and Shri Hari Bhakti.

Shri Hari himself shows that he gives Amruta only to the Satviks ( Devatas ) and not to the tamsiks ( asuras )

b. Reclaiming the vedas back from asura hygriva during matsya avatara.

c. Pushpa vrishti ( showering of flowers from sky) on duryodhana when he abuses Sri Krishna. This is will ensure that Tamsik people will be inspired to abuse Sri Krishna.

There are many more instances.



In all the scriptures not one Sri Vishnu Bhakta has been harmed. Their egos have been vanquished but they have not been destroyed as opposed to asuras. Doesn’t this itself prove Sri Hari is Sarvothamma !



Puranas classification

___________________________



The central theme of all the puranas is the supremacy of Vishnu.

There are 18 puranas available collectively known as Ashtadasha Mahapuranas . The author of all of these puranas is Bhagavan Vedavyasa himself. It is understood that the God’s will is to teach the true purport of the Vedas only to eligible noble souls. Others are carefully misleaded and they never get hands on the true purport of the Vedas.

Hence Bhagavan Vedavyasa, while composing these 18 Mahapuranas, has himself categorized them into three types viz. Satvika Puranas, Rajasa Puranas and Tamasa Puranas. While the Satvic puranas are verily valid, Rajasic puranas have some misleading statements also. The Tamasic puranas are predominant with misleading statements and are intended to mislead the ineligible from the truth.

We find the names of the 18 puranas and their classification into Satvika, Rajasa and Tamasa in Padmapurana Uttarakhanda 235 Adhyaya.



Satvika Puranas:

वैष्णवं नारदीयं च तथा भागवतं शुभम् ।

गारुडं च तथा पाद्मं वाराहं शुभदर्शने ।

सात्विकानि पुराणानि विज्ञेयानि शुभानि वै ।।

· Vishnu Purana

· Naradiya Purana

· Padma Purana

· Garuda Purana

· Varaha Purana

· Srimad Bhagavata Maha Purana



Rajasa Puranas:

ब्रह्माण्डं ब्रह्मवैवर्तं मार्कण्डेयं तथैव च ।

भविष्यं वामनं ब्राह्मं राजसानि निबोधत ।।

· Brahmanda Purana

· Brahmavaivarta

· Markandeya Purana

· Bhavishya Purana

· Vamana Purana

· Brahma Purana



Tamasa Puranas :

मात्सयं कौर्मं तथा लैङ्गम् शैवं स्कान्दं तथैव च ।

आग्नेयं च षडेतानि तामसानि निबोधत ।।

· Matsya Purana

· Kurma Purana

· Linga Purana

· Shiva Purana

· Skanda Purana

· Agni Purana



सात्विका मोक्षदाः प्रोक्ताः राजसा सर्वदा अशुभाः ।

तथैव तामसा देवि निरयप्राप्तिहेतवः ।। प.पु. उत्तर 236.21



Among these puranas Satvika Puranas lead one to liberation, Rajasa do not cause good and tamasa puranas lead one to hell.

Having said this, not all portions of the Rajasa and Tamasa Puranas are invalid. Wherever they are in accordance with other satvika puranas they are perfectly valid.



One should bow down to Bhagwan Sri Ved Vyas has made sure that every body achieves their svabhava by reading the puranas.

Since Sri Hari is impartial he has made sure that everybody is empowered in reaching their respective states.



Hope this clears the basic step of understanding of asura mohana, the basis of classification and why the puranas need to be encoded

Next we shall a sample of how the texts true meanings are lost with word by word translations.

Jai Bharateesha,

Hrishikesh.S.S.