The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed two important points pertaining to the discussion on the “Naraka lokha” as Sage Sukhaachaarya is currently describing to King Parikshit. In this, we’ve witnessed why the world is not going to come to an end very soon, as being projected by some fear-mongers who do not have any base in their argument, and also the significance of our Atman and “Karma”, amidst all the so-called destruction (“Pralaya”) that is going to happen thousands and thousands of years from now. The important point to be noted is that, whatever might be the time through which the world would pass through – Whether it is going to be a destruction or a continuation of the world, our Atman is never going to be destroyed, and so as our “Karma” too! Even at times of destruction, the Atman will be dormant and during the time at which the world gets re-created by Bhagawan, the Atman will again take birth in the “new world” and has to undergo all the effects of whatever we have accumulated in the form of “Karma” till that date! This fact is never going to change, and hence, for the moment, we should not worry about whether the world is going to be existing or destroyed. Our main focus should be on the “Karma” that we’re accumulating, and we should strive to make a conscious effort to reduce accumulation of our “Bad Karma” and increase our accumulation of “Good Karma” in this lifetime.

Moving on thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya returns back to the point that he started to make on the “Naraka Lokha”. He continues thus: “Oh Parikshit! I somehow started to talk on this, but we deviated into something else! However, I’m forced to come back to where I started! Let me tell you more on what this “Naraka Lokha” is all about! All those who have committed sins go into any of these twenty-five Naraka Lokhas!”

“Tatra yastu parivittha apathya kalathraanyapaharati!

Sahi kaala pasha baddhaha yama purushaihi athi bhayaanakaihi!

Taamisre narake balaan nipaatyate!!”

Saying thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya lists down the names of all the twenty-five different “Naraka Lokhas” that Bhagawan has created! I shall try to explain few of them with my limited knowledge. He first starts with the Naraka Lokha called “Taamisram”. Subsequently he moves on to different kinds such as “Kumbhi paaga”, “Laalaabhaksham”, “Ruuruu”, “Krimibhojanam”, Andha-Thaamisram”, etc. The long list continues. Many of us might be familiar with few of these names, as we might have either heard it or seen it somewhere in some shows, etc. Now let us witness who goes into what “Naraka Lokha”! Of course, I’m just explaining only few of them here. There is an exhaustive list of various “Naraka Lokhas” which Sage Sukhaachaarya talks about here, wherein he gives a stunning list of various bad activities and the corresponding punishment for each of them! If we start looking into all of them, we would start shaking with fear! Some of us might even go into mental depression or some sorts too when we read through it! However, the point here is that, these are some aspects which we should avoid doing in life and it is definitely possible for all of us to follow! Now let us witness few of the bad Karma and the corresponding punishment for each of them!

If a person thinks of and tries to abduct the property of others in an offensive and violent way, he / she is sure to reach “Naraka Lokha”. We would have a slight doubt here – Would we reach Naraka Lokha even if we “think” of committing any sinful act? The answer is unfortunately a “yes”! This is the reason why we repeatedly emphasize on the point that our thoughts, words and actions play a vital role in deciding whether we’re accumulating good or bad “Karma”! This is to say that even if our thoughts are bad, we’re going to invariably face the heat! So let us try and mend our thoughts in the right direction!

Similarly, if we’re promising some help to someone and fail in our words, this also invites us into the “Naraka Lokha”! If someone asks us for a help and at that moment, we give them an assurance to fulfill their needs, only to dismiss their request at a later stage for whatsoever reason – This is a direct invitation for us to enter into the “Naraka Lokha”! Similarly, if we mask the truth in such a way that another person is going to be affected by this in the court of law, this is one of the biggest sins which is going to put the “red carpet” for us to enter the “Naraka Lokha”! In the same lines, if we’re going to inflict any sort of hurt to an animal, including cows, dogs, sheep, goat, insects, etc. this is also going to “escort” us to the “Naraka Lokha”!

We might ask here – How can we manage our food habits if we’re having such a rule of not killing animals? An interesting and an important discussion awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

We’re enthusiastically waiting for answering few questions that we had asked at the end of yesterday’s episode. We had asked them as part of the commencement of the discussion on “Naraka Lokha” and “destruction” of the seven “Lokhas”. The questions that we put forth were as follows: Where are we now, with respect to the time period that we’re discussing currently? Are we in any way nearing the end of the world? In fact, many people have started predicting such things nowadays and have even started taking movies and videos on it! Are they true? Are they backed up with factual evidence that the world is going to get destroyed within these one or two years?

To start with, let me mention one thing here – The world is “NEVER” going to come to an end for the moment, atleast for the next thousands of years. All these people who propagate such things that the world is coming to an end are only instigating unwanted fear amongst the minds of people and trying to earn money with that fear! It’s a false propaganda and is completely baseless without any factual evidence. However, if we look at the factual evidence from our end, Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana clearly states that the world has “just begun” it’s long journey! In other words, we’ve just commenced the period of a “Chatur-Yuga” (4,32,000 years put together). Like this, there are 1000 such “Chatur-Yugas”. It is only at the end of the 1000’th Chatur-Yuga will Bhagawan Brahma’s daytime come to an end and thus, the world would face destruction.

This “Chatur-Yuga” concept is actually split into various parts – Each part of this “Chatur-Yuga” would be ruled by a king by name Manu. Each of the Manus would be ruling 71 Chatur-Yugas. Thus, within the “day” period of Bhagawan Brahma, fourteen Manus would have ruled the world! We can see here that 71 multiplied by 14 is approximately equal to 1000. This is why we say that if there are 1000 “Chatur-Yugas”, there are 14 “Manvantharas”! Now what is the name of the “Manvanthara” which we are part of today? While we chant the “Sankalpa Mantra”, we say thus:

“……Vaivasvatha manvanthare ashtaavimshati tame….”

Thus from this part of the “Sankalpa Mantra” that we chant, it is clear that we are in the “Manvanthara” called “Vaivasvatha Manvanthara”. This means that, Vaivasvatha is one of the fourteen Manus who are ruling the world. Thus, it can be understood that we are at a time period wherein “Vaivasvatha Manu” is currently ruling the world. Thus, there are thirteen more such Manus who would rule the world, before the first three Lokhas _ Bhooh, Bhuvah and Suvah would face destruction. This is technically denoted in Sanskrit called “Pralaya Kaala” or the “Time of destruction”. This happens when Bhagawan Brahma’s “daytime” gets over. However, when Bhagawan Brahma’s lifespan comes to an end, the world goes into something called “Mahaa-Pralaya Kaala”, which is ultimately the total destruction of the earth.

Thus having said that, we still have thousands and thousands of years ahead of us wherein the world will be intact. We need not fear if the world would get totally destroyed today or tomorrow or after a year, etc. All these “myths” that are being propagated are factually wrong, without any backup of evidence and whoever is trying to spread such rumors are only making money out of our fear and insecurity. So let us not go behind such rumor-mongers amidst our society!

However having said thus, we should always remember that irrespective of whatever “Pralaya” happens in this world, our Atman never gets destroyed! This is one thing that we should always keep in mind as we move on. Our physical body might get destroyed along with the destruction of various other aspects of the world. More than this, the “Karma” that this Atman has committed till date, also doesn’t get destroyed! All our Karma, irrespective of whatever “Pralaya”, “Maha-Pralaya”, etc. would always keep sticking to our Atman! Bhagawan is very smart here – He has all our “accounts” safely within himself and when the world is getting re-created after the destruction, every Atman that is floating around would again be taking re-birth with the same “account” of Karma – Paapa and Punya!

Therefore we’ve to be extremely careful in what we’re doing every passing day! Our “Karma” is beyond destruction and it would come and hit us whenever and wherever it should! So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and let us also realize that these narratives of “destruction” of the world are all false and fictitious! We shall wait till the next episode to continue with the discussion on the “Naraka Lokha” and how is it going to impact our Atman! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the culmination of the “Jada-Bharata Upaakyaanam” wherein, Jada-Bharata clearly explains the significance of both the physical body and our Atman. Of course, we should give more importance for the benefit and upliftment of our Atman through each and every activity that we perform daily, but having said thus, the physical body that is given to us by Bhagawan should also be maintained properly. This is because, the Atman only has the capability to make decisions and chart out the road-map! The responsibility of execution of this road map lies with the physical body. Thus, Jada-Bharata clearly explains that both the Atman and physical body should work at tandem for all of us to attain the highest Moksha. However again, having said that the Atman and physical body should work together, we should not mistake this statement by thinking that the Atman and physical body are the same! We should be very clear with the difference between the two entities. Our physical body is not the Atman, and vice versa. It is through the physical body that we’re trying to enact all whatever the Atman wants to do. This is where Jada-Bharata spoke about “Ahankaara”, wherein we tend to get into the “I” mindset! Now who is this “I”? This word “I” signifies the Atman and not our physical body, but many a times, we do not have the maturity and awareness to have such a thought. This, of course, is easier said than done and this is why we say that it becomes the highest level of spiritual advancement that we can have, if we can totally embed this thought into us.

Moving on thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya now talks about something that is going to be very interesting for all of us. In fact, we might have even come across this many a times during our lifetime as well. So far, if readers might be able to remember, we’ve discussed the various dimensions that our Mother Earth is comprised of – In terms of horizontal classifications (Dveepas, Oceans, etc.) and the vertical classifications (Seven “Lokas” above us and another seven “Lokhas” below us). Apart from all of this, Sage Sukhaachaarya introduces one more “Lokha” to King Parikshit, which is nothing but the “Naraka Lokha”. As King Parikshit was listening to Sage Sukhaachaarya’s narration thus, he becomes surprised as to what is this “extra fitting” here! 😊 He asks Sage Sukhaachaarya for a detailed explanation. As King Parikshit asks thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya commences a detailed explanation on the “Naraka Lokha”. This is going to be an extremely important knowledge for all of us as we move forward towards making spiritual progress. Let us commence a detailed discussion on what is “Naraka Lokha” according to Sage Sukhaachaarya!

We might be knowing as an overview that the “Naraka Lokha” is for those people who commit sins and bad actions in this life. All these people who have accumulated various kinds of bad “Karma” go into this “Naraka Lokha”. As per Sage Sukhaachaarya’s description, Bhagawan has created not one, but twenty-five different “Naraka Lokhas”! So far, we would have thought that there was only one “Naraka Lokha”, but we might be astounded to bits upon Sage Sukhaachaarya’s statement here! However, there is only one “Svarga Lokha” wherein those people who accumulate good “Karma” go into! There is only one “Vaikunta” wherein Bhagawan Vishnu’s abode is! We might think here – Why is this partiality? Why should we have twenty-five “Naraka Lokhas” and only one “Svarga Lokha” and one “Vaikunta”? Isn’t it so unfair on Bhagawan’s part to create such a partial system? This is exactly the reason why King Parikshit was surprised too!

It is so evident even from our daily lives today that we perform innumerable types of sins and bad actions, which had perhaps warranted Bhagawan to classify each type of sin into each category of “Naraka Lokha”. Thus, to simplify things for us, Bhagawan has clubbed all types of sins and bad actions into twenty five categories and says that if we perform a particular type of sin, we go into this particular category of the “Naraka Lokha”. However, if we’ve to perform good actions, there is only one reason why we should perform them – “Yes! I’ve to do it for the welfare of our society and for the happiness of Bhagawan!” This is perhaps the reason why Bhagawan had created only one “Svarga Lokha” and “Vaikunta”!

As Sage Sukhaachaarya was explaining thus, King Parikshit was a little taken aback! He was thoughtful about the fact as to why his teacher has moved into a seemingly awkward topic. As we’re discussing the “Naraka Lokha” currently, we should also talk about something called “destruction” as we move further. This is because, only during the time of destruction, will we go either to “Svarga” or “Naraka Lokha”. The fact here is that, the seven “Lokhas” that we’ve already seen so far, are subject to destruction at some point in time. In fact, all the fourteen “Lokhas” that this “Anda-Kataaha” (Universe) is made up of, are subject to destruction at some point of time. Now when will they get destroyed? It will happen when Bhagawan Brahma’s “day” time period gets over.

This might be a little complicated to understand for readers – Requesting all of you to rewind to those episodes wherein we discussed the various divisions of time. We’ve witnessed that a “Chatur-Yuga” is comprised of around 43,20,000 years put together. Like this, if thousand “Chatur-Yugas” come to an end, it means, Bhagawan Brahma’s daytime has come to and end!  At this point, the first three “Lokhas” come to an end – The “Bhoo Lokha”, “Bhuvar Lokha” and the “Suvar Lokha”.

As we talk such things, we might immediately have a doubt! Where are we now, with respect to the time period that we’re discussing currently? Are we in any way nearing the end of the world? In fact, many people have started “predicting” such things nowadays and have even started taking movies and videos on it! Are they true? Are they backed up with factual evidence that the world is going to get destroyed within these one or two years? A fascinating myth-buster awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an extension of Jada-Bharata’s message on how important both our Atman and physical body are. As we know by now, the Atman is the one that is permanent in nature and our physical body is temporary and keeps changing as we take successive births. However, when we look at the importance of both the Atman and physical body, the Atman is the one that gives the instructions and the physical body is the one that executes those instructions. However, the Atman cannot do anything on its own. Here is where the significance of the physical body comes into picture. Although it might be temporary, we can’t say that we don’t require a physical body and should discard it. We need the physical body as a medium for the Atman to execute it’s good intentions and instructions. We witnessed in yesterday’s episode, how Lakshmana was an epitome of this point, wherein Valmiki Maharishi beautifully explains Lakshmana’s dedicated service to Bhagawan Rama all through his life. This comes under the purview of something called “Seshatvam”, which means that as human beings in this birth, we should always be of service to Bhagawan in some way or the other, and by that, we attain the highest Moksha. This is exactly what Jada-Bharata also mentions here. However, if we mistake our physical body to be part of the Atman, this is where we go wrong most of the time in life, and this is what we call as “Ahankaara”.

It is thus only with this “Ahankaara” that we continue to perform all our “Karma”, either good or bad. Most of the time, this “Ahankaara” induces us into doing bad things in this world, because it makes us to get carried away by the pleasure behind it! If we’re able to withstand that momentous pleasure by controlling ourselves from going behind them, our “Ahankaara” would automatically start coming down.

Thus, just like how the fire below makes the rice cooker hot, and in turn the rice within the water starts boiling, the Atman situated inside our physical body starts to “boil” as the “fire” called “Samsaara” starts to burn! Now who is fueling this “fire” called “Samsaara”? It is nothing but our “Ahankaara”, which fuels the physical body to accumulate more and more Karma. This is where we need to be careful. Whenever we perform any action, it is always good to think more than once before committing ourselves into it. The moment we start introspecting every action of ours in this way, atleast half of our wrong doings would come to a halt. Majority of our bad actions are momentous in nature and if we stop for a moment and think before acting, we would be able to become a much better person. Indirectly, our “Ahankaara” comes down, which in turn purifies our Atman, which in turn would guide us along the path of Moksha. Hence, this is the biggest learning that we can obtain from the conversation between Jada-Bharata and King Rahuguna.

With this, we come to the end of the “Jada-Bharata Upaakyaanam”, but is it easy for us to realize this fact that the Atman and physical body cannot be equated together? Now this is the most important question for all of us to ponder over today. For instance, the moment our physical body is attacked with some disease, how do we say that in normal day-to-day life? We claim that “Oh! I’m sick!” For instance, if it is lunch or dinner time, what do we say? “Oh! I’m hungry!” For instance, if my physical body gets hurt by falling on the road, how do I say that to a doctor? “Oh! I’ve got hurt in my hand or leg! While walking on the road or while riding a bicycle, I fell down and injured my leg!” This is how we talk in daily life isn’t it? However, we should realize one thing here – When we say, “I’m sick, I’m hungry, I fell down on the road and hurt my leg!” etc. is it really we who get hurt or feel hungry or whatever? According to the above discussion on “Jada-Bharata Upaakyaanam”, the answer should ideally be “No”! Why? It is because the Atman and the physical body are two different entities. We are the “Atman”! We are not the physical body at all!

So according to this narrative now, if we’ve to rephrase our above sentences, how do we do? If we feel hungry, we should ideally say, “Oh, it is lunch time! This physical body is feeling hungry!” Similarly, “OH! Because of the accident on the road, the leg of this physical body has got injured!” Similarly, “Oh! Due to some viral infection, this physical body is undergoing fever or throat infection, or whatever!” Our Atman is not going to feel hungry for the want of food! Our Atman is not going to fall sick at any point in time! Our Atman is not going to get injured in any accident on the road! It is only the physical body that undergoes all of this. This is where, great “Mahatmas” and “Spiritual Masters” set apart themselves from ordinary human beings like us. Since they exactly know the difference between the Atman and the physical body, even if they fall sick due to whatever reason, they are least bothered about it. Whereas, if we fall sick what do we do? We immediately rush to a doctor, take medications, etc. and in the process, we become so mentally dull and disturbed because of our sickness. Whereas, if we realize the fact that we (The Atman) can never fall sick and it is only our physical bodies which have fallen sick, none of the diseases would be able to harm us at all!

However, having said thus, it is extremely difficult for us to get this thought embedded in us. Of course, it is not that we don’t want to realize it on purpose, but circumstances around us, and the way we see the relationship between our Atman and the body, etc. would prevent us from realizing this fact. However, I’m not saying it is not possible at all. It is possible for us to realize this, and this is considered to be the highest state of self-actualization of a human being. In other words, if one reaches this state wherein he / she is able to clearly differentiate between the physical body and the Atman, this person is said to have attained the highest form of spiritual realization.

So for today, let us think over this point deeper and let us slowly try making sense of it as we move on. Although it might be difficult for us to do so, and at times, it might even be embarrassing for us to have such thoughts, we should try meticulously to understand the difference between our Atman and our Physical body. This would ultimately lead us higher and higher in our spiritual path and in the direction of complete detachment. We shall wait till the next episode to move on with the events post the Jada-Bharata Upaakyaanam. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had once again emphasized the difference between the Atman and our Physical body, this time through the important messages that Jada-Bharata has given to King Rahuguna. Of course, it is not only for King Rahuguna, but for all of us too. We had yesterday discussed the significance of both the Atman and physical body separately. We concluded the previous episode by explaining that our physical body is also important for us – It is the “vehicle” gifted by Bhagawan to all of us, within which the Atman is embedded. The Atman, as we know now, cannot execute whatever it intends to, all by itself. It requires a “medium” through which the execution can happen. Thus, it is not correct to proclaim that only our Atman is important, and our physical body isn’t. The point here is that, the Atman is permanent, and the physical body is temporary. However, the physical body is to be well-oiled and maintained in good condition, so that the Atman’s agenda can be carried forward. For instance, if we’ve to perform spiritual practices, or any kind of service to others – Can the Atman do all of it on its own? It’s not possible isn’t it? This is where we require the help of our physical body. Thus, with the instructions given by the Atman, our physical body is to execute all of the instructions meticulously. For the robust execution process, the physical body should be maintained well.

However, having said that, there should be a threshold limit until which we can give importance to our physical body. If we start giving too much of importance to our physical body by trying to satisfy all its “luxurious demands” from the worldly pleasures, this is where we would start losing the plot! This is why when we were discussing the purpose of Lakshmana’s birth as Bhagawan Rama’s brother, Valmiki Maharishi stresses on a point called “Sheshatvam”, which means that the sole purpose of taking birth as a human being is to be of some form of service to Bhagawan. This is exactly what Lakshmana did to Bhagawan Rama – From his first breath till his last, Lakshmana was totally dedicated in service to his elder brother, Bhagawan Rama. He traversed through the length and breadth of the forest with Bhagawan Rama, trying to protect him along with Mother Sita, shared Bhagawan Rama’s sorrow and misery when He lost Mother Sita to Ravana, travelled along with him to Lanka, waged a bitter battle with Ravana and helped Bhagawan Rama to retrieve Mother Sita from the clutches of the wicked Ravana. Thus, at every instance we would infer here that Lakshmana was in service to Bhagawan Rama at every instance of time and thus, was an epitome of the quality of “Sheshatvam”.

From the life of Lakshmana, what is the message that we can learn? It is directly related to what Jada-Bharata is saying here too – We should give importance to our physical body, but to the extent to which we should give. However, our main focus should be on the development of our Atman and it’s significance. The physical body should be used as an aid to offer our services to Bhagawan and thus, enhance the Atman’s chances of attaining the highest Moksha. This is the essential principle of “Sheshatvam”.

We should spare a thought here – How much of time are we allocating per day or per week for the service of Bhagawan? In the present-day context, we work for five days a week from morning 9 AM till 6 or 7 PM. By the time we’re back home, we’re occupied with other family commitments like our children’s education, family outings, etc. and finally hit the bed by around 10:30 PM, only to get up by morning 6 AM to once again start for our work. This cycle continues from Monday to Friday. Weekend is the only time which we get for things such as cleaning our house, buying vegetables, groceries, etc., washing our clothes, ironing and getting ready for our next week of work. Amidst all of these routine activities that we do, where is the time for Bhagawan? Do we even remember that there is someone called Bhagawan who has given us a human birth, a good family, good shelter, food, clothing, etc. In fact, it is only by His grace that we have a decent job to make decent money to make a living. We might immediately ask a question here – How can we say that Bhagawan gave us a job? Isn’t it because of our talent and intelligence that we have a job? Let us think here – How many people who are intelligent and talented, but not able to find a good job? There are aplenty, wherein in every country around the world, unemployment is a huge threat! Amidst all of it, we still have a job, decent enough to make a living! We might again ask – Oh! I’ve worked hard for it and because of it, I secured this job! Again – How many people who have equally worked hard or even perhaps harder than us, who do not have a job at all? The number is countless! However, amidst all of them, we still have a job isn’t it? If we try and dig through things this way, we would not even know why we exist in this world at all! But we do exist, with a decent lifestyle and a source to earn sufficient money to make a living, isn’t it? Now who has given all of this to us? It is Bhagawan who has gifted all of it! So, aren’t we bound to thank Bhagawan for all what He has given us? Therefore, we should make sure that we spend atleast few minutes every day to convey our gratitude to Bhagawan for all the good things that He has given us! This is where “Sheshatvam” comes as a modern-day application!

So for today, let us realize the importance of both our Atman and our physical body. Let us try and give importance to both of it, and thus, pave the way to thank Bhagawan for all what He has given us in this birth! We should ideally be able to make use of whatever we have now, to chug along the path that would lead us to the ultimate Moksha! Let’s think and do the needful, starting now! We shall wait till the next episode to continue this Jada-Bharata discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Jada-Bharata’s important points of Vedanta which are worth understanding for all of us, apart from King Rahuguna. We had concluded yesterday’s episode at a point wherein a concerned King Rahuguna asks Jada-Bharata, the actual deeper meaning of what he is trying to convey as “abstract” answers. In fact, King Rahuguna, as he had zero knowledge on various important aspects of Vedanta, is unable to comprehend what Jada-Bharata says. In fact, even all of us would not be able to understand and comprehend high levels of Vedantic thoughts, just because we’re not exposed to such kinds of talks or practice in our lives.

For instance, when we started with our Ramayana project here three years ago, how many of us were able to understand the deeper meanings within the Ramayana story, which Valmiki Maharishi is trying to explain? Not many of us were able to, isn’t it? However, with so much being written and understood by our readers, now if we’ve to try and make sense of what Valmiki Maharishi or Sage Vyaasa is trying to say, we might be able to do so atleast to a certain extent, if not fully! This is a gross improvement and we can congratulate ourselves for it! 😊 However, we should not become complacent and stop here. The more we get exposed to thoughts and readings of Vedanta, the more we would be able to understand the reality of life from a spiritual perspective. This would directly aid us in making considerable spiritual progress.

Having said thus, readers who are currently reading our episodes on Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, are requested to go back to our episodes on Shrimad Ramayana and Vidura Neeti whenever we get time, read them repeatedly, take down notes and ponder over them again and again. We now have enough material to go through now (Around 850 episodes) and if readers have any clarifications or doubts, you may feel free to write to me anytime. Alternatively, readers can put forth your views on the “Comments” section and I shall personally get back to each of you with time.

With this, we shall now move on to what Jada-Bharata replies to King Rahuguna’s queries. As we know now that Jada-Bharata’s initial answers had sent shivers and shock waves to King Rahuguna, who is now perplexed to a big extent. Thus, King Rahuguna asks Jada-Bharata,“Who are you? From where have you come? What is your background?” Jada-Bharata replies to the king thus, “Oh King! Please don’t ask such questions to anybody including me in the future! I’m the same as what you are! I’m Jeevatman, and you’re also a Jeevatman! There is no difference between you and me! Just like how you were born in this world because of your “Karma”, I’m also born in this world because of my “Karma”! You’ve also taken birth through the womb of your mother; I’ve also taken birth in this world the same way! You had asked me why have I come here, isn’t it? Let me tell you one thing – Both of us have come to this world to wash away all our Karma and finally attain the highest Moksha. But there is only one small difference between you and me – You’re sitting on top and inside the carriage and through that, you’re going through your Karma, whereas I’m standing on the ground in front of you, and through this I’m going through my Karma. Apart from this, all of us are the same! The sole purpose of our human birth in this world is to wash away our Karma. Of course, each of us have different ways to wash them or accumulate them further. But the ultimate purpose of our human existence is to do away with our Karma!”

This same explanation is what forms the crux of Bhagawan Krishna’s Bhagawad Gita, which came much later! In fact, the second “Adhyaaya” (Chapter) of Bhagawad Gita totally talks about how different our Atman and human body are from each other, and how all our ultimate aims of this human life is to wash away our Karma so as to attain Moksha. Thus, in most of the literature of Sanaathana Dharma, we would find this point being repeated in different contexts, in different ways, through different stories, through different narratives, etc. Thus, the basic point for all of us to understand time and again is that our Atman and our body are two different entities. Over time, what we’ve mistaken within ourselves is that, our physical body and Atman are one and the same! We’ve forgotten over time that our Atman is the permanent entity and our physical body is a temporary entity! This state of nature wherein we see both as the same is called “Ahankaara”!

Now what is this “Ahankaara”? Many of us might be familiar with this term, which means that if a person his high on “Ahankaara”, he / she is very high on his / her ego! Now what is this “Ego”? It is a state wherein we think that “I” am everything in this world and “I” am supreme! But what is this “I”? This “I” signifies our Atman and not our physical body. This is exactly what Jada-Bharata is trying to explain here. This is what he means by saying that all of us are one and the same, because we are our Atman and all Atmans are the same in all kinds of qualities. Now the term “Ahankaara” will have a new definition here – If we do not know the difference between our Atman and the Physical body, it can be said that we are high on our “Ahankara”! This is because, we’re high on our “I” factor, which unfortunately we relate to our physical body, instead of the Atman! This is the reason why we go behind all forms of luxuries, worldly pleasures, etc. and by doing so, we’re trying to satisfy the false representation of this “I”, which is the physical body! This is why we keep seeing differences between each other in terms of various aspects of the physical body – Our color, race, ethnicity, culture, richness / poorness, etc. However, if we’re realizing the real significance of this “I” factor, which is nothing but the Atman, we would immediately understand that our Atman doesn’t stand for any of these differences that I had just mentioned above. More importantly, the Atman doesn’t require any of these worldly things behind which we run every day! For the Atman, what is important is Bhagawan and the ways to reach Him! However, it is only the temporary physical body that keeps running behind everything in this world.

However, having said thus, we should not understand this in a sense that our physical body is not important, and we can do away with it! We of course require the physical body to execute all the important functions to keep our Atman intact. Of course, we should maintain our physical body in full fitness and sound health conditions all the time. However, beyond this point if we’re going to give importance to our physical body, it would make us dance to its whims and fancies, and eventually we would start straying out from our path towards enriching our Atman. Thus, if we’re able to realize this, worldly pleasures wouldn’t matter at all!

So for today, let us realize this point and let’s wait till the next episode for more discussions to follow! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important point, taking cues from Jada-Bharata’s message of co-existence of various beings in this world. We witnessed how co-existence should be understood in the today’s context wherein chaos is raging at various parts of the world. It is saddening to see high intensity violence across many places within our own country too and it is such a shame that some people believe only in inciting innocent people to turn violent. Little do we remember how we should co-exist peacefully with each other by adjusting ourselves to others’ needs and preferences. This is where Jada-Bharata’s message becomes so important here. As ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, I once again appeal to all people who are reading through this blog – Please do not give into the false narratives of those cheap and crooked minded people who are trying to “incite” you into any form of violence. Let us not fall into the vicious campaign of such people. Let us always remember that violence, killing, vandalism, etc. are not the solutions for any kind of problem in this world. In fact, there is nothing substantial that is taking place, wherein we should vent out our frustration in such violent and unconstitutional ways. Hence, let us spare a thought for this important point today as we move on with the subsequent points of discussion.

With the important “relationship” explaining the phenomenon of co-existence, Jada-Bharata’s another key point here is the explanation on how we are immersed totally into the vast ocean called “Samsaara” and how we get “burnt” totally by it. By this statement, he does not mean that our physical body is directly going to get burnt! It is our Atman within our physical body which is going to be “burnt”. Readers must carefully note here that there is a “pun” on the word “burnt”. When we say “burning” in this context, it does not literally mean “burning on the fire”. The inner meaning to this is that, we get carried away by the intensity of our “Karma” that we keep accumulating more and more, because of our “Samsaara”. This is what Jada-Bharata refers to as “burning”. Now if we’ve to make sense of this narrative in a better way, Jada-Bharata is saying here that it is not our physical body that is going to take the brunt of our “Karma”. It is ultimately our “Atman” that is going to bear the brunt of all our actions, because, the Atman, being a permanent entity, has to take repeated births by getting encapsulated into various physical bodies over time! However, the physical body that we have at the present moment is just a temporary one and we use it only to accumulate more and more “Karma”.

Thus, whatever we undergo with this physical body – Happiness, sadness, any kinds of feelings, emotions, etc. must be experienced by the “Atman” and not the physical body. However, without the physical body, the Atman cannot experience anything! This might be a little confusing for readers and I shall explain this point with a small example – For instance, we get hurt on our hand or leg and we undergo lot of pain because of it. The physical body gets hurt and we see blood oozing out of the area where we have the damage. However, who experiences the pain and the sad emotion behind it? It is the “Atman” and not the body, isn’t it? Thus, we can see here that the “Atman” requires a “medium” called “Physical body” to experience various types of feelings such as happiness, sadness, etc., and these feelings are grossly due to the influence of our “Samsaara” at various points in time.

With this description thus, Jada-Bharata tries to make King Rahuguna understand the key difference between the “Atman” and our physical body. However, King Rahuguna couldn’t infer all these messages from Jada-Bharata’s seemingly blunt answers! Unable to figure out anything from Jada-Bharata’s answers, King Rahuguna replies thus, “Till today I’ve never had any sort of fear towards swords, arrows, bows, and even the “Chakra” of Bhagawan Vishnu! But your words are making me somewhat tremble with a kind of fear that I’m unable to explain and comprehend! Your words are sending shivers into my spine. I need more elaboration on what you’re trying to tell me!”

Normally, when people who are extremely knowledgeable and pious with principles of “Vedaanta” talk something, we would not be able to comprehend their words easily. In fact, on the lighter side, if someone talks a language that we don’t find it easy to understand or comprehend, we immediately brand them thus, “Oh! This person talks too much of Vedaanta!” 😊 Why so? It is only because we don’t have that much of knowledge or the acumen to understand what they’re trying to say. In fact, we should also understand one more thing here – Those people who are extremely sound with the knowledge of “Vedaanta” from our Sanaathana Dharma are also sound in the various aspects that pertain to the worldly life in which we live every passing day! We tend to have a wrong opinion that people with knowledge of Vedanta do not understand “Grihasta” or “Family” life! This is actually a myth! The only reason behind us not able to understand and comprehend Vedanta is that we don’t have the practice of either listening to it or following it in our lives.

This is exactly where King Rahuguna is also entangled into! Like all of us, he too has zero experience and practice of principles of Vedanta and this is the reason why he’s unable to comprehend Jada-Bharata’s words in a single attempt! Having said thus, what is going to be Jada-Bharata’s reply to the concerned King Rahuguna? Let’s wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a significant aspect of what Jada-Bharata’s answers to King Rahuguna contain. Although outwardly it might seem a little arrogant and back-answering to the king, if we look deep into the words that Jada-Bharata employed, we would get astounding meanings of “Vedanta” that our Sanaatana Dharma tries to convey. As Jada-Bharata says that he wasn’t carrying the carriage of the king, the inner meaning to it was that, it was not his “Atman” that carried it, but the ever-changing physical body. Moreover, it was his shoulders lifting the carriage. His shoulders were in turn being lifted by his knees and his knees were in turn being lifted by his feet! His feet were in turn being supported on the ground by Mother Earth! So ultimately who lifted the King’s coach? It was Mother Earth who did it and it wasn’t Jada-Bharata or any of the three other people! It’s a beautiful explanation wherein we understand the link between various objects and aspects in this world. It’s a beautiful message that everything in this world are inter-dependent on each other and all of us living beings too, co-exist with each other!

This is perhaps the ultimate message that our Sanaathana Dharma tries to convey in various ways, which we should understand. We can never see anything or anybody as a stand-alone entity. Just like how rice is boiled – We keep a cup of rice immersed into water in a pressure cooker, which in turn is placed on the stove to allow it to boil. How would it be if the rice grains directly come in contact with fire? Won’t the grains be burnt and fried up? Similarly, what if the water comes in direct contact with the fire? Ultimately the fire would be put off, isn’t it? Thus, rather than all of these – rice, water and fire being stand-alone elements, the right combination of all the three would only yield the best possible result.

Similarly, all elements in this world, inclusive of living and non-living objects are in unison with the basic fundamental principles of existence of this world. If we try and disturb this co-existence mechanism, we would right royally mess up our own existence in this world. This is where in today’s scenario, all of us talk about “Climate change”, “global warming”, etc. that is happening across the world. Of late, we’ve been witnessing “freak” weather conditions in many parts of the world, including in our own India as well! We’re seeing unseasonal rainfall, unusual cold conditions in many places, raging forest fires in several parts of Australia of late, due to unusually higher temperatures, etc. Why is all of it happening? It is primarily because we human beings have forgotten the very principle of co-existence of this world. We’ve started destroying trees in thousands and thousands across various parts of the world. Forests are being converted into cities! Lakes are being converted into residential apartments! Ponds are being encroached! Rivers are being polluted with excessive amounts of effluents and sewage, which have tendered them extremely harmful and unusable! Animals are being tortured and slaughtered in the name of religious killing and other activities! All of this happens only because man has become selfish over time and has started to think that he alone can exist and rule this whole world with his “inventions”! Little does man remember that Mother Nature wants us to co-exist with all living beings happily and peacefully! Even within human beings itself, we’ve started to see happiness in other people’s sufferings! This is the worst ever thing that can happen! Now where is the question of “co-existence” if we do not want our own fellow human beings to be happy? The moment we start seeing happiness when other people suffer, we’re not only insulting our own mankind, but also leaving a deep scar in Bhagawan’s heart!

We’ve to be very careful here and this is exactly what Jada-Bharata tries to explain in this context. When he talks about co-existence, we should always remember the relationships that each living being and non-living being have in this world. We should understand how different is the “Atman” from the “Physical body” and how Atman is all-prevalent across all living beings in this world. We should realize that all are “ONE”, and follow this principle of harmony with our fellow human beings, animals, plants and other living beings. Only if we understand this “ONENESS” amongst all living beings and follow the process of co-existence, would we be able to have a “peaceful” and a “joyous” world around us! In fact, this is the very reason that we chant the sacred Mantra “Lokah Samastah Stukino Bhavantu”, which means “May all living beings in this world live happily and peacefully!”

Thus, the message from this episode and the previous one put together is that, we should understand the term “co-existence” in the right manner and try to follow it in our daily lives too. Thus, rather than blaming each other for whatever shortfalls, we should ensure that we walk on the correct path as prescribed by our Sanaathana Dharma. If all of us start doing this carefully and meticulously, won’t the world become a much more peaceful place to live in? Let’s think about it and start doing the needful! We shall wait till the next episode to move on with the Jada-Bharata Upaakyaanam! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Rahuguna setting out on his journey to meet with Sage Kapilaachaarya for obtaining some important spiritual knowledge. Eventually as he sets out, Jada-Bharata, who was passing by the king’s way, had to lift his carriage. As we know, Jada-Bharata was totally consumed into his spiritual thoughts and practices, he never realized what happened around him in the world! Because of that, he was unable to carry the king’s carriage in a smooth way as it has to be done. Eventually King Rahughuna got furious with Jada-Bharata’s act and poses few questions as to why he isn’t carrying the coach properly. King Rahuguna continues with his fuming and further goes on to insult Jada-Bharata that although he looks well-fed and healthy and thus, he requires a punishment. Saying thus, the king takes a heavy stick and comes to beat up Jada-Bharata. It was at this moment that, Jada-Bharata gives some conflicting, yet interesting answers to King Rahuguna, which initially infuriates him more, but makes him a bit thoughtful afterwards.

Thus, as King Rahuguna couldn’t make sense of what Jada-Bharata was replying him, he asks back to Jada-Bharata, “What do you mean by your answers then? Why are you giving all sorts of contradicting answers to my questions? If I ask you aren’t you well-fed, you say ‘No’! If I ask you why you carried me in a crazy fashion, you say that you never carried me! What does these mean?” Replying thus, Jada-Bharata again says, “Oh King! I’m not giving contradictory answers to your questions. Let me tell you something again – I’m not well-fed as you say! I’m not healthy as you say! I didn’t carry you as you perceive!” Hearing thus, King Rahuguna was totally confused! He didn’t know what to ask further, or what to reply further!

Now what is the inner meaning of Jada-Bharata’s answers? It is nothing but the difference between the “Atman” and the Physical body. He explains how different the Atman from the physical body is. Now let us correlate Jada-Bharata’s answers here. Readers must be a bit more attentive at this point while reading. He first says to the king that he never carried the coach. This means, that it was the physical body that carried, and not the Atman. Can an Atman carry anything in this world? The obvious answer is “No”! Secondly, Jada-Bharata replies that I have never ate anything in my whole life! Have we ever seen an Atman, sitting in a corner, eating food in a nice banana leaf? Again, the answer is an obvious “No”! Of course, we consume food every day. But it is the physical body which actually consumes the food, for the purpose of staying in good health. Thus, we’ve to understand here that the physical body consumes food, through its mouth, tongue, teeth, taste buds, etc. but the Atman doesn’t consume anything. However, we should note that the Atman instructs us to consume the food. But the Atman doesn’t eat anything for itself or by itself. So, when will we know this difference? When a person dies at the end of his / her life, it signifies the exit of the Atman from the physical body. Once the Atman has gone out, who is going to give the instruction for the body to eat or not to eat? Will we be able to make a dead body to eat? The answer is “No!” Here is where we need to understand that it is ultimately the Atman that gives the instruction for the body to eat food. The physical body cannot consume food directly by itself. It requires the Atman to instruct. When the Atman vanishes from the physical body, nobody is there to give the command of eating, to the physical body. Thus, the physical body can’t consume anything after death has happened.

Thus, the point to understand here is that, Atman is formless, and it can’t do anything on its own. It requires a “vehicle” called the physical body to execute all of its instructions. For instance, if the Atman wants to consume food, it has to do through the “mouth” of the physical body into which it is embedded. If the Atman wants to walk from one place to the other, it does so through the “legs” of the physical body into which it is embedded. Thus, none of the organs like mouth, legs, etc. are possessed by the Atman.

Apart from this, there is another bigger point that Jada-Bharata is trying to make. When he says that he didn’t carry the carriage of the king, what he means is that, “he alone” did not carry the carriage. Of course, there were three other people as well, who were carrying it, but apart from that, there’s a deeper meaning to what Jada-Bharata is explaining here. What he means here is that, the carriage wherein the king is sitting upon, is rested upon the shoulders of four people. These shoulders are in turn rested upon the knees of the physical bodies of these people. The knees of these people are in turn rested upon their feet. The feet is in turn rested upon the ground of Mother Earth! So, if all of these are involved, Jada-Bharata asks the king that how can he single out by saying Jada-Bharata was the one who carried the coach! If the king has to point out who carried the coach, he should thus invoke all of what I described above!

Thus, the important point here is that, everything in this world doesn’t exist as a stand-alone aspect but co-exists with several other things! For instance, if we consider rice boiling in a kettle, what exactly happens? A certain quantity of rice is put inside an equivalent quantity of water, which is together in the boiling kettle. What happens here? The rice, which is amidst water, is boiling in a kettle, which is kept over a gas stove. Now what happens if the rice is directly in contact with the fire? The rice particles would get fried up and burnt! Whereas, what would happen if water comes in contact with the fire directly? The fire would be put off by the water, isn’t it? Thus, see how things co-exist here – Rice in water, inside a kettle is placed on the gas stove, and thus the boiling process happens! It is to be noted here that, only if things co-exist with each other, we would be able to realize our ultimate goal!

So for today, let us think about and understand this important point which Jada-Bharata is trying to convey. We shall wait till the next episode to take this explanation a bit further. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the events that unfolded in the case of Bharata. We had seen that Bharata ended his previous birth with deep thoughts and concerns for his deer, and hence he took birth as a deer in his subsequent birth. He had to undergo all what a deer had to undergo for the next seven years and finally after that, he once again had a human birth, thanks to his enormous level of spiritual wisdom and powers he had accumulated in his past human birth. This birth too, Bharata was a Yogi, but with a much stronger determination and rigidness. This time, he was not going to give up any form of his spiritual practices for anything or anybody, thus, he eventually became so immersed into his penance that he became like a non-living object (Jada). This is how he obtained the name “Jada-Bharata”.

Eventually one fine day, there was a king by name Rahugana, who was ruling the Sindh province, who wanted to obtain some spiritual knowledge and understanding. He thus wanted to get in touch with the great Sage Kapilaachaarya, who was very much alive at that time in this world. As King Rahuguna was getting himself ready for the journey to meet Sage Kapilaachaarya, he gets into his carriage, which is supposed to be lifted and carried by four people. As King Rahuguna was starting, he suddenly realized that there were only three people and needed a fourth person to lift his carriage. It was at this time that Jada-Bharata was passing through that place. As mentioned before, Jada-Bharata, due to his deep level of penance, was just like a non-living object, without getting bothered about what happened around him. As Jada-Bharata came close to the carriage, he was made the fourth person and was asked to lift the carriage, to carry the king. Unaware of what he was doing, Jada-Bharata was having one end of the carriage on his shoulder and was continuing his walk. Due to his deepness of penance, Jada-Bharata’s walking was very haphazard! He was swinging here and there, just like how a drunkard would walk his way through! Because of the crazy way in which Jada-Bharata walked, the carriage lost its balance and the king who was sitting inside, started feeling uncomfortable.

As this was happening, King Rahuguna instructed his people to stop the journey and keep the carriage down on the ground. The king got out from his carriage with all his anger and fury. He asked his carriers thus, “Who is that person making my journey uncomfortable? Who’s that person swaying the carriage in such a crazy manner?” Asking these questions with great fury, the king took a heavy stick in his hand and advanced towards the four people who were carrying his coach. As the king was approaching them, the three designated carriers together raised their hands to claim innocence and pointed at the fourth person for the fault. The three carriers replied to the king thus, “Oh King! This was not out fault! We were carrying the carriage in such a way that your journey is as smooth as possible! It is the fault of the person whom you had selected to be the fourth carrier! Ask him!”

As King Rahuguna heard the reply thus, he now questions the fourth person. The fourth person was none other than Jada-Bharata. The king asks thus, “Oh fool! Why don’t you carry my carriage in a proper and designated fashion? Why are you swaying the carriage here and there? You seem to be well built and well fed. You seem to be physically fine, without any problems. Yet, why do you do this?” Hearing this from the king angrily, Jada-Bharata was so calm and composed and replied back thus, “Oh King! I never carried you so far! Rather, I did not consume any food at all in my life!” Hearing a strange reply from this person, the king became more furious and yelled at him thus, “Oh wow! You seem to be an arrogant guy! You’re trying to give sarcastic answers to my questions! I think I need to give you a big punishment for trying to insult me with your sarcastic answers in front of others! I think you’ve been over-fed, which is making you talk rubbish like this! Your physical body needs to be punished for talking back arrogantly to a king!”

Saying thus, King Rahuguna approached Jada-Bharata to give him a nice whacking! As the king was about to do so, Jada-Bharata answered him back thus, “Oh King! You’ve totally mistaken my answers in a wrong sense! It is true that I didn’t carry you in my shoulder! It is very true that I didn’t eat anything as you think I had! I’m not doing any sort of sarcasm here! I’m trying to tell you the truth!”

These answers from Jada-Bharata puzzled King Rahughuna even more! He now slowly starts realizing that this fourth person that he had designated to carry his carriage, was no ordinary a person. He thus asks back to Jada-Bharata, “What do you mean by your answers then? Why are you giving all sorts of contradicting answers to my questions? If I ask you aren’t you well-fed, you say ‘No’! If I ask you why you carried me in a crazy fashion, you say that you never carried me! What does these mean?”

As King Rahuguna asks thus, Jada-Bharata gives important answers, which are worth understanding and appreciating as ardent spiritual aspirants. What are those answers? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊