The Indian Dharma

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Paraashara’s accord on “Creation” and how Bhagawan Vishnu is meticulously keeping on creating the world continuously without a break. We had witnessed in yesterday’s episode that Bhagawan Vishnu created the huge and mammoth “Anta-Kataaham” and also Bhagawan Brahma along with it. Thus, after a while, Bhagawan Brahma is entrusted with the job of creation and Bhagawan Vishnu instructs him to continue from where He left. According to that, Bhagawan Brahma is also continuing to create more and more living beings in this world and as this continues, he is feeling tired and fatigued. He feels that he needs somebody to help him out and assist him. For instance, in our case also, if we start doing something mammoth, we wouldn’t be able to do it all by ourselves. We need people along with us to assist us in whatever tasks that we’re doing. This is where in modern day, we call this as a “Team work” or a “Team effort”! Perhaps Bhagawan Brahma knew that this mammoth job cannot be achieved without a “team” of people around him! 🙂

This is where we see the emergence of a very important person called “Svaayambhuva Manu”. Thus, Bhagawan Brahma entrusts Svaayambhuva Manu to continue the job of creation of this world. As Manu was doing thus, Bhagawan Brahma thought that one person isn’t enough and we require more people to be involved in this activity. This is where we have Bhagawan Brahma’s “Manasaputras” (Those who didn’t take a normal human birth, but were born out of Bhagawan Brahma’s thoughts itself) by name “Sanaka” and “Sanatkumara”. As Bhagawan Brahma tries to entrust these “Maanasa Putras” into creation, these two didn’t accept! They simply replied back to Bhagawan Brahma thus, “Please mind your own business!” We see this kind of attitude even in those days! 🙂 This seems nothing new here! If we’re doing the same today, we’ve to assume that such things started right from Bhagawan Brahma’s days! 

However, having said thus, Svaayambhuva Manu came forward and he continued the job of creation. However, as things were progressing, there was a “Raakshasa” who tried to encapsulate the entire creation into a huge “saree-like cloth” and hid it somewhere into the ocean waters! As this unfolded all of a sudden, Svaayambhuva Manu was shell-shocked! He did not know how to retrieve the hidden creations from beneath the ocean floor! He immediately rushes to Bhagawan Brahma to find out a way to retrieve it and continue with the job of creating the world further. As Bhagawan Brahma came to know of Svaayambhva Manu’s challenge, He didn’t know what to do as well! He just replied thus, “Oh Manu! Bhagawan Vishnu had taught me how to create the world, but He didn’t teach me how to retrieve something that gets stolen in this way! So let us go to Bhagawan Vishnu Himself for a solution. He would be the right person to answer this!” 

As Bhagawan Brahma takes the issue to Bhagawan Vishnu, He assures of help – This is where we witness and experience Bhagawan Vishnu’s one of the first incarnations in this world as Bhagawan Varaaha, in the form of a pig. In the meanwhile, the Raakshasa by name “Hiranyaksha” was so notorious that he had the guts to pick up Mother Bhoomadevi from Vaikunta and hide her also into the ocean floor! As this unfolds, Bhagawan Vishnu thinks that He’s had enough and it is time for some action on ground. This is where He takes the first incarnation of Bhagawan Varaaha who was in the form of a pig, which was having the strength of a thousand elephants put together. As Bhagawan Varaaha stretches His muscle thus, He finishes off Hiranyaksha and brings back all the creation from beneath the ocean floor, along with Mother Bhoomadevi and protects all of them together. 

With this accord, Svaayambhuva Manu and Bhagawan Brahma were extremely happy and relieved that the notorious Hiranyaksha is no more! As Bhagawan Varaaha protects and restores the creation thus, Svaayambhva Manu continues his job of creation, as per the instruction of Bhagawan Brahma. In the meanwhile, we’ve to also witness the calculation of “Time” (“Kaala”) which Sage Paraashara is going to explain in great detail. Of course, we’ve witnessed this concept of time in our Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana as well. However, this can be a recollection of whatever we’ve seen earlier, and for new readers, this can be good first-hand information as well! 

So for today, let us celebrate and worship Bhagawan Varaaha’s incarnation and let us wait till the next episode to witness the “Time” calculation in detail! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Bhagawan Vishnu is an “endless” and a “Beginning-less” entity, who is also referred to as “Sathaa eka rupaaya” by Sage Paraashara. Through this phrase, he also reminds us of the fact that since Bhagawan doesn’t have neither a beginning nor an end, His physical form is of a constant one and never changes over time, unlike how our physical forms keep changing every passing day. In due course of yesterday’s episode, we had also witnessed how Bhagawan Vishnu is a “Svatantra” by nature, which means, He is independent of anything and anyone in this world. Whereas, normal human beings like us depend upon so many people for so many things, and ultimately depend upon Bhagawan to shower His grace, so as to attain Moksha. Thus, we are referred to as “Paaratanthryas”, which means, “dependable” in nature. We also clarified in yesterday’s episode how Bhagawan Adisesha, Garuda, etc. who are permanent residents of Vaikunta are also “Paratanthras” by nature, and although they’re at Vaikunta with Bhagawan, they’re all dependent on Bhagawan’s grace to have their permanent residences. 

Moreover, as we move on from here, we’ve to understand one more important point – Just as we said that Bhagawan is “Sadaa eka rupaaya” in terms of physical form, He is “Sadaa eka rupaaya” in His character too! He’s ever compassionate and kind towards all of us, and is waiting for all of us to come to Him. Now if we consider our character and composure, is it going to be the same for two continuous days? Aren’t we getting influenced by our moods and emotions every minute and every second? For instance, we ourselves keep saying thus – “Oh! I met this person yesterday at his house, and he was talking very nicely to me! However, when I met him today on the road, he roared upon me with anger and frustration! I was surprised as to what happened to this person within just 24 hours!” What’s happening here? Our moods and emotions always keep us on our toes, isn’t it? They are inducing constant changes over and over again. These kinds of changes cannot be witnessed in Bhagawan isn’t it? Bhagawan is always compassionate and kind towards all of us, and is ready to forgive and forget all whatever sins that we’re committing in this world, time and again, isn’t it? This is where Bhagawan is referred to as “Sadaa eka rupaaya” = Both in terms of physical and the emotional state. This is an important extension to the above-mentioned point that all of us should clearly understand. 

Explaining thus, Sage Paraashara pays tributes and salutations to Bhagawan Vishnu, who is the ultimate Brahman! Now Sage Paraashara tells Sage Maithreya thus, “Oh Maithreya! So far I’ve explained the process of creation and who is responsible for this. Now we’re going to witness what is “Pralaya” (A sort of destruction). When we look at “Pralaya”, it is a process wherein Bhagawan Vishnu pulls back all of His creation within Himself, at the end of a lifetime!” 

This is a very important point here that we should discuss in detail. But before we go into the “Pralaya” part, we’ve to understand some more things about “Creation” and with that knowledge, we shall go into what is “Pralaya” and how Bhagawan “pulls all of His creation” inside Him again! First of all, as we spoke about “Creation”, we had witnessed that from Bhagawan, all the five different elements (“Pancha Bhootas”) of earth, fire, wind, water and sky are born. Also, the “Karma-Indryas” and “Gnyaana-Indryas” are born from Bhagawan, along with the mind. Thus, if we count all of this, we would get a number – 24. Thus, we can see that Bhagawan is creating 24 different “Achith” items in this world. We mention the terminology called “Achith” here because they are not powerful without a “life”, which is called “Chith”. All of these 24 “Achiths” form a huge creation called “Anda-Kataaham”. It is inside this Anda-Kataaham, is Bhagawan Brahma being inserted. Thus, Bhagawan Vishnu is the person who creates Bhagawan Brahma and He thus entrusts the job of further creation to Bhagawan Brahma. Bhagawan Vishnu tells Bhagawan Brahma thus, “Oh Brahma! I’ve taken enormous pains to create this huge “Anda-Kataaham” and also to create you inside this “Anda-Kataaham”. From now, you take care of the rest of the creation within this Anda-Kataaham. I’ve created all the sense organs, five elements, etc. in this world. Now, your job is to transform all these elements into life and create living beings which would be a combination of these two – The five elements and the sense organs.”

Thus, from this point onwards, Bhagawan Brahma takes up the responsibility of creating the world further, as per the instruction of Bhagawan Vishnu. He starts creating various kinds of living beings in this world. As Bhagawan Brahma creates more and more living beings in this world, he becomes tired and fatigued over time. He thinks within himself that there can be someone who can assist him in this treacherous job of creating the world further and further. Now who comes to the rescue of Bhagawan Brahma? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Paraashara’s accord on the important discussion on “Creation” and “Destruction”. In the due course, we’ve witnessed many points that were part of this discussion, and how Bhagawan is solely responsible for all what is happening in this world. In fact, we’ve also seen some allied points wherein the cycle of creation and destruction just involves changes in states of existence, both for living and non-living beings. Ultimately, the person who is responsible for this change of existing states is none other than Bhagawan Vishnu or, referred to as “Brahman”. In these lines, we witnessed yesterday how Sage Paraashara is describing various attributes of this “Brahman”. We had witnessed this famous sloka that is often chanted along with the Vishnu Sahasranama. For readers’ convenience, we shall have a re-look at the sloka, as we continue with the discussion of the various points that Sage Paraashara intends to convey through this important one. 

“Avikaaraaya shuddhaaya nityaaya paramaatmane! 

Sataika roopa roopaaya vishnave prabha vishnave!!” 

In this, we’ve already witnessed the meaning and significance of “Avikaaraaya”, “Shuddhaaya”and “Nityaaya”. We’ve witnessed how Bhagawan Vishnu is apart from all these components of the “cycle” that we’re talking about. As Bhagawan Krishna Himself mentions in the Gita, there is nothing called “Paapa” or “Punya” or any sort of “Karma” that even comes close to Him! Even though He’s in a human form during all His incarnations, it is not because of the “Karma” cycle. Bhagawan is voluntarily taking the human form and roams around amidst all of us, just out of desire to establish and re-establish the “Dharma” in this world. We’ve also witnessed that Bhagawan doesn’t have a beginning or an end. He’s all-permanent and all-pervasive in nature. Having said all that, these are the key characteristics, based on which we refer Bhagawan Vishnu as the ultimate “Paramatma”. Sage Paraashara himself explains this in the last phrase called “Paramaatmane” in the first line of the sloka. Thus, the point here is that, there is only one “Paramatman” and all the others in this world constitute the “Jeevaatmans”, who are striving to attain the divine lotus feet of the “Paramatman”. 

In fact, this is where the “Alwars” and other “Aachaaryas”, while they sing in praise of Bhagawan Vishnu through various hymns and poetical slokas, practiced something called as “Naayika Bhaava”. Now what is this “Naayika Bhaava”? Normally this is a practice wherein a woman who is love-stricken with her husband or a lover, sings in praise of him, so that she can unite with him with all the love and happiness. Of course, if it is with regards to “Loukeeka” (Worldly) aspect, we refer to it as a category of romance between the boy and the girl. But here, Bhagawan Vishnu is the boy and all the Alwars and Aachaaryas imagine themselves to be the girls who are falling in love with Him! This is “divine love” of the Jeevatmas towards the Paramatman. This is what we refer to as the “Naayika Bhaava” and this is considered to be one of the highest levels of “Bhakti” towards Bhagawan! 

We might ask a question here – Many others like Garuda (Bhagawan Vishnu’s vehicle), Aadisesha (The serpent bed of Bhagawan Vishnu), etc. are all permanent residents of Vaikunta. Will they also be classified as Paramatmans? The answer is “No”! This is because, even though they might be permanent residents of Vaikunta, they are not “Svatantras” (Independents) by nature. All of them are “Paratantras” (Dependents) to Bhagawan. It is like a corporate organization – Just like how many of us (“Paratantras”) work under a leader or a boss (“Svatantra”), Garuda, Adisesha, etc. are all “employee’s” of Bhagawan Vishnu! 🙂 Of course, I’m just mentioning this as a comparison for an understanding purpose, but we cannot literally compare a corporate organization to what happens in Vaikunta any day. Thus, the point here is that, Bhagawan Vishnu, being a “Svatantra” by nature, and who doesn’t depend on anybody else for any of His activities and existence, is referred to as the ultimate “Paramatman”. In fact, there can only be one “Svatantra” in the entire creation, and it is nothing but Brahman. This is why we refer to Bhagawan Vishnu to be a “Paramatman”. 

However, these entities like Garuda, Adisesha, etc. are all referred to as “Muktaatmas”, who are permanent Vaikunta residents, but are all “Paratantras” to Bhagawan Vishnu. We should understand this point very clearly here. Next, Sage Paraashara explains another important point here – “Svataa – Eka Roopaaya” – This means that Brahman is someone who has the same form at all points in time. For instance, if we consider our physical forms, we keep changing every passing minute, hour, day, month, year, etc. isn’t it? Right from the day when we take birth in this world from our mother’s womb, we only keep getting older day by day, and our physical body continues getting worn out, till we die someday, isn’t it? But this doesn’t apply for Bhagawan! Bhagawan never gets old at any given point in time! This is what Sage Paraashara is trying to refer here – There is nothing called as an “Ageing process” when it comes to Bhagawan, as we’ve already discussed earlier too, that Bhagawan doesn’t have a beginning or an end. Only if one has a beginning and an end, will the question of getting old would come, isn’t it? This is where we see that Bhagawan is a constant entity throughout, and is never subjected to getting older at any point in time. 

So for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait till the next episode to witness the continued discussion on this sloka further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had continued with the discussion on the important point on “Creation” and “Destruction” and how Bhagawan makes sure that He maintains all our “Karma” accounts properly without any mistake! In due course, we also witnessed how we as human beings in the world are so much carried away by the “Maya” (Illusion) that Bhagawan has created, that we’re unable to prepare ourselves to attain “Moksha”, even if Bhagawan is ready to give it to us! This is where we’ve to realize that it is highly impossible for the entire world to attain “Moksha” at any given point in time, even though Bhagawan is an embodiment of compassion and is ready to offer! All what our limited minds can think is that we’re responsible for whatever happens to us, and Bhagawan is no way connected to whatever happens! Little do we realize that it is Bhagawan who is making the entire world function according to His will and wish! Thus, if we’re able to understand that Bhagawan is behind all whatever is happening to our life, we would automatically surrender to His lotus feet. The problem comes wherein we treat Bhagawna as a “third person”, and as a result, Bhagawan also treats us as a “third person” and keeps waiting till we come to Him! 

Thus, the cycle of creation and destruction keeps continuing on and on, without a break. If we’ve to come out of this spinning cycle, it is upto us to take the effort and approach Bhagawan for the same, with our ardent devotion. So let us understand this point very clearly and let us strive to take this special effort to come out of this vicious spinning cycle of birth and death. 

Thus, this is the broad idea that is being conveyed in the first “Adhyaaya” of the Shri Vishnu Puraana, by Sage Paraashara. To summarize all of it in a nutshell, the entire world is created by Bhagawan Vishnu (“Shrishti”) and it is the same Bhagawan Vishnu who protects whatever He creates it! We should also realize that as human beings who have taken birth in this world, Bhagawan has given us an opportunity to approach Him and through Bhakti, attain Moksha, which would free us from this continuous cycle of birth and death. We should understand this point very clearly as we move on further. 

“Avikaaraaya shuddhaaya nityaaya paramaatmane! 

Sataika roopa roopaaya vishnave prabha vishnave!!” 

Now as we move on further, Sage Paraashara is describing more about the all-pervasive “Brahman”. This is a very important sloka and forms part of our introductory slokas before we chant the “Shri Vishnu Sahasranaama”. “Avikaaraaya” means a person without any blemish. Bhagawan is in no way imperfect in nature. He doesn’t undergo any sort of changes like how the “Jeevatmas” in this world undergo. He is changeless and permanent in nature. Moreover, unlike “Jeevatmas” who undergo cycles of trials, tribulations, happiness, sufferings, etc. Bhagawan is someone who is beyond all of this. He is someone who has transcended all sorts of happiness and sorrow! This is what Sage Paraashara refers to, in the second phrase called “Shuddhaya”. This means that Bhagawan is extremely unperturbed by any happiness or sorrow! He is a “Nityaatma” and is devoid of any such experiences that we undergo in this world. This is the next point that Sage Paraashara is explaining here – “Nityaaya”. He is someone who permanently resides at Vaikunta and never is affected by whatever happens in this world. 

We might ask a question here – Can “Muktaatmas” be classified under “Nityaaya”? We cannot! Because, “Muktaatmas” were also in the world, amidst the cycle of birth and death, before coming to Vaikunta, isn’t it? They were also normal human beings like us, before attaining “Moksha”. Hence, Muktaatmas would not be able to attain the state of “Nityaaya”. Only Bhagawan can fit into this category as He doesn’t experience any sort of “Karma” like how we do. We might again ask here – Oh! Bhagawan repeatedly incarnates in this world as a human being like us – In the form of Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna. He also undergoes lot of sufferings, happiness, sorrow, etc. like how we undergo! If that is the case, how can Bhagawan be “Nityaaya”? This is an important question, but we’ve to understand that Bhagawan’s incarnation in this world is not comparable to our birth and death. Bhagawan takes birth in this world, not because of “Karma”, but because of the “Will” to establish Dharma in this world. In fact, Bhagawan Krishna Himself explains in the Bhagawad Gita – “No sorts of “Karma” can even touch me! I take birth in this world not because of Karma, but because of the wish to establish and re-establish Dharma over and over again!” 

This is the difference here – So, even if Bhagawan takes birth in this world, He is still considered as a “Nityaatma”, and not as someone who undergoes happiness, sufferings, etc. due to “Karma”. So for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait till the next episode to continue this important discussion forward. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had continued with the narration on the “transient” state of this world, wherein all things, irrespective of whether they are living or non-living, undergo changes periodically in their forms. We’ve witnessed in yesterday’s episode how living beings including human beings uundergo this transience, according to our “Karma” that we’ve accumulated. We’ve witnessed how Bhagawan keeps a vigil over what we do in this world, in each of our births, and thus decides the nature of the subsequent births that we’ve to take. In this midst of this is where we go to Bhagawan and surrender to His lotus feet. Once we do that with our whole heart, Bhagawan helps us to relieve ourselves from this transient cycle of birth and death and thus, takes us to “Moksha”. Having said this, it doesn’t mean that once an individual attains Moksha, the entire world would come to a halt. The creation would still continue to happen and at the same time, destruction, which is nothing but the change in states of existence, also would keep happening continuously. It is only that one individual goes out of this cycle. However, we also tried to answer the question that what if all the living beings in the world surrender to Bhagawan and try attaining “Moksha”. This is not an overnight process, given the sheer size of the world and the population of living beings that we’re considering at the global level. Thus, irrespective of whatever happens or not happens, the world is going to continue in existence and creation / destruction processes are going to keep happening unabated. 

Having understood thus, we move on with the next point here. This point is also allied with whatever we’ve discussed till now. As we had mentioned earlier that when one reaches the “Vaikunta” or the “Moksha”, he / she never comes back to this world and is totally devoid of this cycle of birth and death. We’ve witnessed this here, as well as in our previous Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana project as well, where Sage Sukhaachaarya is also narrating the same thing. But one thing that we’ve to understand here is that, if an individual has to reach Vaikunta or “Moksha”, it is upto that individual to take the decision to free himself / herself from this cycle and go away forever! This is easier said than done, because how many people in this world would be ready to leave all our so-called “duties” in this world and transcend towards “Vaikunta” immediately? For instance, just let us assume that Bhagawan Krishna is coming in front of us at the moment with all His beauty and charm. He is now talking to us thus. “Oh my little child! My ardent devotee! I’ve seen you suffering for all these days, months, years, etc. in this world with lot of difficulties and sufferings. Now I’ve decided that I’m going to take you with me to “Moksha”! So are you ready to pack your bags and come along with me to Vaikunta?” 

If at all Bhagawan Krishna is going to ask us like this, how many of us would be ready to go along with Him? The sad reality is, very few would be ready! Most of us would immediately reply to Bhagawan thus, “Oh Bhagawan! If you call me all of a sudden like this, how will I be able to come? I have my son, daughter, wife, parents to take care of! I’ve to arrange for my daughter’s marriage. I’ve to find a nice bride for my son! I’ve to take care of my wife and parents till the end! With all these “practical duties” in store, how would I be able to come to Vaikunta with you?” 🙂 This would be our immediate reply! Little would we be able to think beyond that if Bhagawan is calling us to Vaikunta, He would definitely take care of all the others who are associated with us! This is where we lose the plot! Thus, to re-emphasize the fact that even if Bhagawan comes forward to grant us Moksha then and there, we wouldn’t be ready for it, and hence, the cycle of birth and death would always keep continuing! 

Now the question comes – Why are we refusing Bhagawan’s offer? What makes us refuse Bhagawan so flat and blunt? It is because, all of us are stuck in the web called “Maya” or “Illusion”, which is in turn created by Bhagawan only! So the test now for all of us is very clear – Bhagawan’s test here is that, whether are we going to respond to His call immediately or, are we going to get stuck in the “Maya” and delay His offer endlessly? Mostly, all of us are falling into the second category! Else, as a father, why should Bhagawan deny “Moksha” to His own child? Even in our family, will our parents like us to go away from them, even if it is for work or study? For instance, many of us get work and study opportunities at different places in the world, but when we pursue them, we wouldn’t be able to take our parents wherever we go, isn’t it? At that time, when we leave our parents and go outside, do you think that our parents might be happy to let us go? Of course, when it comes to the opportunity, they would be happy obviously. But, when it comes to physical separation from their kids, which parent would be happy to let their son or daughter go away from them? Similar is the case of Bhagawan Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi too – All of us are their children and how can Bhagawan and Devi bear the separation from us? 

Thus, we’ve to understand here that at any point of time, Bhagawan is always ready to grant us “Moksha”. But it is only up to the individual to use this opportunity to ascend towards Bhagawan! So for today, let us understand this point, along with that of creation and destruction, and let us wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed how life in this world is a cycle, and there is never a start or an end point to it. We can understand from yesterday’s important discussion that there is nothing called “ultimate” destruction in this world. It is just that, the world passes through various stages of existence and whatever we see today, might “change” into a different form tomorrow. Thus, Bhagawan’s major role to play here is that, as He creates the world, everything assumes a physical form of existence, and as Bhagawan “destroys” the entire thing, all of it merges into Bhagawan’s divine form once again, only to be recreated in a different form again! We’ve witnessed a few examples to illustrate and highlight this point as well. 

In all of these, we might wonder where are we in this mammoth exercise of Bhagawan? How do we take an account of ourselves in this world? Do we, as human beings, undergo the same cycle? If so, how does Bhagawan keep accounts of millions and millions of living beings living in this world, including human beings? 

To answer these questions one by  one – Do we human beings undergo this same cycle? Yes, we do! But how does Bhagwan keep accounts of all living beings together? This is where our “Karma” theory comes into play. Bhagawan has created a beautiful ploy here – We are born in this world on account of our previous “Karma” – Both good and bad. Depending upon the intensity of our good / bad “Karma”, we get a birth accordingly for approximately 80 – 90 years. Bhagawan has an accurate, yet complicated methodology to maintain all our “statistics” and “arithmetics” intact, as to who commits what kind of “Karma” in this world. We might not realize that, but as we said earlier, Bhagwan is beyond our intellectual reach. According to that, once this birth gets over after 80-90 years, we get the subsequent birth and once again the same cycle continues. Thus, here we might see two important things – One is that our physical body changes its state once it dies off, It is burnt to ashes and becomes merged with the soil of the earth’s surface. Secondly, our Atman changes from one physical body to another, after the lifetime of this physical body is over. In fact, we’ve to redefine the “Atman” and “Physical body” here. Of course, we’ve witnessed many times that the “Atman” is non-destroyable in nature, but what about our physical body? We say that it is destroyable, but strictly speaking, our physical body changes from one state to the other. Our Atman takes different births according to the Karma that this living being is accumulating. 

However, if one thinks that he / she has had enough of this birth / death cycle and creation / destruction cycle, he / she can exhibit “Bhakti” towards Bhagawan and with His grace, can get out of this cycle, as a special case. However, just because this individual has gone out of this cycle, it doesn’t mean that the world would cease to exist. The creation / destruction and birth / death cycle would continue taking place in the world endlessly. We might ask a question here – If everybody in this world starts thinking that they should get relieved from these cycles of birth and death and creation and destruction, and if everybody exhibits Bhakti and alleviates themselves, what would happen to this world? Who would be there in this world henceforth? This is a good question to ask, but we should understand one important aspect here. First of all, how many people would be there in this world at any given time? Around 800 million? Or even more, isn’t it? I’m not talking about just one country. I’m talking about the entire world put together, with all the seven continents. So, even if these 800 million people try for liberation from this world at the same time, and even if Bhagawan grants “Moksha” to all of them, we would still have other living beings isn’t it? We would have plants, trees, animals, insects, etc. who would still be living in this world and passing through each and every phase of these cycles. 

Thus, this is not going to be an overnight process that the entire lot of creatures in this world is going to get liberated at a stretch! This cycle is thus going to be endless and the world is still going to keep existing with all its beauty and living beings in it. Thus, it is only upto us to exhibit ardent Bhakti or devotion towards Bhagawan to liberate ourselves from here, so as to reach Vaikunta. So for today, let us realize this important fact of this world and let us wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of this discussion with many more intriguing questions and answers! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Bhagawan is the one and only creator of the entire world, including various aspects of nature, living beings, etc. We’ve seen an important explanation as to how the creator has to have the knowledge of creation and how Bhagawan Vishnu encompasses all knowledge and will-power to create and keep re-creating the world over and over again. Thus, Sage Paraashara explains to Sage Maithreya that all of us are being created only by the Brahman, which is ultimately Bhagawan Vishnu and when all of us get destroyed, we again go back into the Brahman. 

Interestingly, when we talk about “destruction” of creation, in fact, there is nothing called “destruction” in this world. If we look at it carefully, everything in this world has numerous “states” of existence. For instance, if there is a mud pot, since it is composed entirely of mud, the mud pot is one “state of existence” of mud itself. In other words, we can say that the mud exists in the form of the pot. Similarly, mud has a lot of minerals in it, isn’t it? This is what we process with a lot of chemical apparatus, etc. and extract various metals like gold, iron, aluminium, copper, etc. Ultimately, the reality is that, all whatever we use in our daily lives, are all composite states of sand or mud. Thus, if for instance the mud pot gets broken down, rather than saying that the mud pot is destroyed, we can say that the mud has moved from one state of existence to the other, isn’t it? What was there in the form of an earthen pot, has transformed into a state of powdered mud. Similarly, if we take the example of diamond, it is nothing but carbon existing in a different form. If we burn the diamond stone, what happens? It reduces to ashes, isn’t it? Thus, we can say that the carbon, which was once existing in the form of a diamond stone, has transformed itself into another form of “ashes”. Similarly, many of us have this practice – If we have some gold ornaments at home, after many years of existence, what do we do? If for instance, we have a golden ring, and the ring doesn’t suit our finger anymore, do we throw away the gold ring in the dustbin? Instead, we take it to the goldsmith, and he melts the gold ring into gold, re-creates the gold into another ornament like a necklace or a chain, isn’t it? Thus, we see here that this gold ring, (one state of existence of gold as a metal) gets transformed into a necklace or a chain (Other forms of existence). 

Thus, the point here is that, if we talk about “destruction”, it is nothing but “transformation of the item from one state to the other”. This applies to living beings as well, isn’t it? When we’re born in this world, we’re born with a physical body (Shareera) within which, the “Atman” is embedded. We’ve already seen multiple times that the “Atman” is permanent and the “Shareera” is temporary in nature. Thus, at the end of this birth, our Atman gets “transferred” into another “Shareera” or, if our Karma accounts are zero, our Atman transcends to “Moksha” and never comes back to this world. Thus, we can see here that the “Atman” has different states, but it never gets destroyed. Even if we say that our physical body gets “destroyed”, is it real destruction? No! Our physical body, when it is alive, is in one form and shape. However, as the physical body is dead, it decomposes into another state called “Sand” or “Mud”, isn’t it? Or, if we burn the body, it becomes ashes, which is another form of existence merely. Thus, the concept of “destruction” means that one item gets transformed into another form, and it never gets destroyed altogether. This is what we’ve to understand here. 

Thus, from all of this, we can understand that there is nothing called “ultimate” destruction in this world. It is just that, the world passes through various stages of existence and whatever we see today, might “change” into a different form tomorrow. Thus, Bhagawan’s major role to play here is that, as He creates the world, everything assumes a physical form of existence, and as Bhagawan “destroys” the entire thing, all of it merges into Bhagawan’s divine form once again, only to be recreated in a different form again! Thus, this cycle keeps continuing and this is what we’ve to understand. 

So for today, let us understand this important point that this entire process of “creation” and “destruction” are part of a huge cycle. What gets created today, gets destroyed tomorrow, and the same “destroyed” items would be recreated in some other form the next day! We shall continue this important and interesting discussion again in the next episode and take it forward from there! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important point pertaining to the “Shareera-Atma Bhaava” wherein Sage Paraashara explains to Sage Maithreya that Bhagawan Vishnu is omni-present within all living beings in this world, and it is He who encompasses all what He has created. Thus, from this we can understand that if Bhagawan Vishnu is considered to be omni-present, all of us are like “building blocks” of a huge “Shareera” (Body) called Bhagawan Vishnu! All of us are small but significant constituents of Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine form. I’m using the phrase “small but significant” for a reason here – If we take our own human body, it is composed of millions of small cells, many of which are microscopic in nature, that is, we cannot see them with our naked eyes. Even though they are microscopic in nature, they are very significant. For instance, if some cells of our ear canal get damaged, we would lose our body balance and would feel like fainting, isn’t it? Similarly, if one muscle in our hand or leg starts to degenerate or gets dislodged, our body movements start getting restricted, isn’t it? Thus, we can see here that every cell and muscle of our body has its own place and significance. Similarly, all of us being constituents of Bhagawan’s divine physical form also have our own place, significance and responsibility, no matter how miniscule we might be in terms of numbers. 

Now, having said thus, what does it signify for ardent devotees like us? If we’ve to occupy a significant place in Bhagawan’s form, our responsibility and accountability increases isn’t it? If we’ve to proudly proclaim that we’re part of Bhagawan, we’ve to make sure that we behave in the right way, so that Bhagawan’s name and reputation doesn’t get spoiled because of our actions. We’ve to make sure that we’re following whatever Bhagwan has taught us. We’ve to make sure that we exhibit utmost sincere and innocent Bhakti towards Bhagawan, so that He acknowledges that we’re part of Him! This is where all these Puraanas and Ithihaasas occupy a prime place in our Sanaatana Dharma. All of these texts were born to make us realize that we’re integral constituents of Bhagawan, and that, we should behave that way, so as to maintain our status-quo properly every time. This is the real understanding of the term “Shareera-Atma Bhaava”, which Bhagawad Raamaanuja tried to actively propagate to the world, during His divine incarnation, thousand years ago. This concept also forms the basis of the sect called “Vishishta-Dvaitam” in our Sanaatana Dharma. 

Moving on thus, Sage Paraashara discusses the next important point here. He continues the discussion on the “Creation” aspect, wherein he says now that the person who is responsible for the entire creation (Bhagawan Vishnu) is an embodiment of all of “Gnyaana” (Knowledge) and “Vairaagya” (Will). It is only with these two qualities is Bhagawan creating the whole world. We should understand this important point here, and I shall explain this in simpler words. For instance, we might have this intriguing question in mind – Why can’t nature create itself? In simpler words, does nature have the power and will to create and multiply? Can mountains, rivers, oceans, come together, conduct some meetings, conferences, etc. with each other, come to a conclusion and decision to create more mountains, rivers, etc.? This cannot happen, isn’t it? This is because, if something has to be created, there should be someone who should have the “Gnyaana” about it. Mountains and rivers do not have the “Gnyaana” to create and multiply, isn’t it? They are after all non-living objects. They should have some source, which is an embodiment of knowledge and wisdom to be created. For instance, if a cow has to give milk to its calf and to us, it should have the “Gnyaana” that it has a duty to give milk. A mother feeds a baby with all her love and affection. She does it because she has the “Gnyaana” that it is her responsibility to feed her child. Similarly, if we’ve to reproduce and make children, we’ve to have that “Gnyaana” to do so. If we apply this same thing to mountains and rivers, do they have this “Gnyaana”? The answer is “no” isn’t it? Hence, who created all these mountains and rivers? There should be somebody who has that “Gnyaana” isn’t it? This person is none other than Bhagawan, who is an embodiment of this “Gnyaana”. 

I’m giving a lot of emphasis to this point also because this is the fundamental principle upon which atheists keep arguing. This is to thwart their argument completely into pieces. Atheists would argue that nature creates itself, and there’s no Bhagwan who does any sort of creation in this world. For them, the counter question is this – Does nature have the “Gnyaana” to create itself? If one doesn’t have the “Gnyaana”, how does creation happen? If we’re reproducing children, how can it be done without Gnyaana? Can we – Human beings create ourselves without the “Gnyaana”? Thus, we should understand here that for creating nature which is of a mammoth size, Bhagawan should be an embodiment of all sort of “Gnyaana” and “Vairaagya” put together! We cannot compare the amount of Gnyaana and Vairaagya that we have with that of Bhagawan. All the “Gnyaana” that we have is to create one or two new human beings. But Bhagawan is creating the entire world, full of innumerable types of living beings, isn’t it? Right from plants, trees, shrubs, animals, insects, flies, birds, etc. – The list is endless! So if Bhagawan has to endure a creation of this mammoth size, this is why we emphasize that Bhagawan is an embodiment of “Gnyaana” or the divine knowledge. 

So for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait for the next episode to continue this discussion on “Creation” further! Stay tuned! 🙂  

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of Sage Paraashara’s important answer to Sage Maithreya’s intriguing questions. Hes starts with a pin-pointed and a straightforward answer that the entire creation of this world is carried out by none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself! The creation encompasses all the living and non-living beings that exist in this world. We’ve also witnessed in due course of yesterday’s episode that this is the concept which sets apart our Sanaatana Dharma from every other religion. While other religions around the world believe that “Brahman” is something that exists outside of this world, our Sanaatana Dharma propagates the important fact that “Brahman” is within every living and non-living being in this world. This is why we emphasize that we shouldn’t hurt any living being whatsoever – Be it a human being or any animal or plant or a tree. While few religions (one in particular) believe that they can attain “Moksha” only by hurting others, it is a huge disgrace for mankind to have such religions in existence and the world is unfortunately reeling under the pressure of such barbarians. Thus, as ardent followers of our Sanaatana Dharma, we should clearly understand why does our Sanaatana Dharma propagate peace and harmony amongst all living beings, just like as we have the famous “Manthra” – “Lokah Samastah Sukino Bhavantu”, which means, “May all living beings in this world live happily and in peace”! 

Moving on further with Sage Paraashara’s answer, he explains how the concept of “Shareera-Atma Bhaava” is of prime significance. Now what is this “Shareera-Atma Bhaava”? As we’ve witnessed till now, the entire world is “Brahman”, now we’re going to understand that as the world is “Brahman” in its full entity, all of us, living beings are the various parts of the “Shareera” of “Brahman”. This might be a little complicated for readers to understand. I shall explain it in simpler terms. Now that we know how “Brahman” encompasses all living beings in this world, it is imperative that all of us are integral parts of a huge “Shareera” called “Brahman”. As the huge “Shareera” would have several body parts, all of us constitute each of the body part of the “Brahman”. This is called the “Shareera-Atma Bhaava” and this is exactly what Bhagawad Ramanuja has vehemently propagated throughout His tenure of incarnation in this world. As many of us might know, Bhagawad Ramanuja was the propagator of the entire sect of Sanaatana Dharma, referred to as the “Vishishta Dvaitam”, which stresses upon the important difference between the “Atman” and the “Deham” or “Shareeram”, and how the bonding between the “Atman” and “Shareeram” is going to be instrumental in attaining “Moksha”. This is where we’ve to understand that we are all part of the larger “Shareera” of the ultimate “Brahman”, who is none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself! Thus, in lay man’s terminology, we can understand that Bhagawan Vishnu is omnipresent and He encompasses everything in this world. 

If we recollect from our previous Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana project, we had witnessed the same concept during the “Prahlaada Charithra” as well. We’re going to discuss “Prahlaada Charitra” in this project under Shri Vishnu Puraana as well. But the important point here is that, when Hiranya Kashibu asks little Prahlaada as to where is Vishnu, Prahlaada replies the same. He says that Bhagawan Vishnu is there everywhere in this world, and that, he can find him even inside the pillar that was right in the front. It is only upon this reply from Prahlaada, did Hiranya Kashibu break open the pillar. Once the pillar exploded, we witnessed Bhagawan Vishnu emerging out of the pillar with a ferocious form of Bhagawan Narasimha! This is where Bhagawan Vishnu proves to the entire world that He is omnipresent, and that, one needs to have the fullest and innocent devotion (Bhakti) to experience His divine presence. 

Thus, the point here is that we should understand how we constitute the “Shareera” of Bhagawan directly, and with this, our responsibility only increases. If we proudly proclaim that we’re an integral part of Bhagawan, we should also make sure that we behave responsibly isn’t it? We cannot do some crap and say that we’re part of Bhagawan. If we’re doing so, it not only brings down our reputation, but also Bhagawan’s reputation is at stake! Hence, we’ve to be all the more careful here. If we’re claiming that we’re part of Bhagawan, we should make sure that we follow whatever Bhagawan Krishna has elucidated clearly in the Bhagawad Gita! 

So for today, let us understand the importance of this “Shareera-Atma Bhava” and let us make sure that we follow the needful, so as to gratify Bhagawan for the opportunity that He has given us! We shall wait till the next episode to continue further on this! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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We’re all set to commence the important contents of the discussion between Sage Vasishtaachaarya and Sage Vishwamitra on various aspects of how was the world created, what are the various instances that happened after the world was created and how Bhagawan is protecting the world that He has created. We’ve witnessed in the previous episode as to how this vital information keeps passing on from generation to generation through the divine explanations of various great Maharishis. We’ve witnessed one such lineage here wherein Sage Vasishtaachaarya explains all of this to Sage Paraashara. In turn, Sage Paraashara explains all of this to Sage Maithreya, Sage Sukhaachaarya, etc. In turn, Sage Maithreya explains all of this to Vidura, who in turn explains all of this to Yudishtra and Co. Also, we’ve witnessed in detail during our project on Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana as to how Sage Sukhaachaarya explains all of this to King Parikshit. Thus, we’re witnessing here as to how these important pieces of information gets transcended across various generations of people and till today, we’re talking about all of this in various forms. Of course, each and every sage that we’re talking about here in this lineage, are great writers themselves! We’ve witnessed how Sage Sukhaachaarya was instrumental behind the Shrimad Bhagawatha Puraana, along with Sage Veda Vyaasa. Here, we’re witnessing how Sage Paraashara was solely instrumental in compiling all this information into the great Shri Vishnu Puraana. All these things are documented in detail so that people like us today who are “zeroes” in spiritual knowledge and maturity can also easily infer and understand this information. 

With this, Sage Paraashara commences his accord with a straight answer, which is directly to the point! 

“Vishnoh sahaasaath yatbhootham jagath tatraivathasthitham!!”

Here, Sage Paraashara explains that this entire world was created by none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself! Bhagawan Vishnu is solely responsible for all creation and protecting whatever He has created. Once the world gets destroyed, again it goes back into Bhagawan Vishnu only! Thus, we can see that creation and destruction are part of a mammoth cycle that is being orchestrated by Bhagawan Vishnu. The person who creates the entire world, is also responsible for the destruction of the creation, and also for the re-creation of the world. 

“Chita samyama karthaasau nihatosya jagatchasaha!!”

From this, we can also infer that the entire creation of Bhagawan is nothing but the ultimate “Brahmam”. Bhagawan Vishnu is also referred to as “Brahman”, because He is all-pervasive in nature. Thus, if Bhagawan Vishnu can be referred to as the “Brahman”, His creation also can be referred to in the same way isn’t it? For instance, if we have a pot made of silver, what do we say? How do we refer to the pot as? Won’t we refer to it as a “silver pot”? If the pot is made of mud, we refer to it as a “mud pot”, isn’t it? What do we infer here? Since the pot is made of silver or mud, this material is omni-present throughout the pot, isn’t it? Similarly here too, since the entire creation is made by Bhagawan Vishnu, it is also referred to as “Brahman”. Thus, we can understand here that the sand, water, air, sun, moon, living beings, plants, etc. are all part of the same “Brahman” only! It is only because of this concept that we often keep saying that Bhagawan is present inside every human being and every plant & animal, and it is for this reason we say that we shouldn’t hurt anybody or any living being. If we’re hurting a living being, we’re hurting Bhagawan indirectly. 

This is where the speciality of our Sanaatana Dharma lies. Only because we realize that every creation of Bhagawan is “Brahman”, we worship each and every aspect of Bhagawan’s creation. For instance, we would see at many places that people are worshipping plants, trees, etc. If we go into the rural parts of our Bhaarata Desha, we would find people garlanding trees, placing a small idol of Bhagawan under it and worshipping it every day. Even if we visit many temples in many places, we have this concept of worshipping a tree inside the temple premises. Similarly, if we look at our Sanaatana Dharma literature carefully, every deity has a “Vaahana”, also referred to as a “Vehicle”. For instance, Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine vehicle is “Garuda”, which is nothing but an eagle. Similarly, Bhagawan Ganesha’s divine vehicle is a rat. Bhagawan Muruga’s divine vehicle is a peacock. Goddess Kali’s divine vehicle is a lion. The list goes on. Thus, we can infer here that every creation of Bhagawan has its own significance and needs to be respected and worshipped. This is where our Sanaatana Dharma stands out uniquely, as compared to other religions. 

If we look deeply at other religions other than our Sanaatana Dharma, all what they propagate is that, “Brahman ” is somewhere outside of this world, and nothing in this world is “Brahman ”. This is why we see people of some religions involving themselves in violence and killing of people and animals unwantedly. Ultimately, what prevails is “hatred” and “negative vibrations” all over the place. However, there is no place for all such violence and unwanted killing of animals, human beings, plants, etc. in our Sanaatana Dharma and this is why it is widely revered and respected all around the world. 

Thus, for today, let us understand the fact that all of Bhagawan’s creations in this world are part of the “Brahman” and we should learn to respect each and every creation. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion forward! Stay tuned! 🙂