The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed yet another important dimension to the teachings of Sage Kapilaachaarya and Rishabha Deva combined together. We witnessed a small story to drive home the point too. From the story thus, we can infer how important is it for all of us to control our mind. Whenever we try doing it, the ego comes in between and thrashes our attempt. However, with the guidance and grace from the Spiritual Master, the mind can be channelized by thrashing the ego into pieces. This is exactly what Rishabha Deva says too! If we’ve to control our mind by ourselves, it is not an easy task to do in this lifetime! It is only with the help of a Mahatma, would we be able to achieve this task and to attain Moksha henceforth.

So with this point firmly in our mind, we shall move on with the subsequent discussion. As Rishabha Deva says thus, his disciples have a doubt that arise in their minds. They ask him, “Oh Rishabha Deva! You’re saying that we can attain Moksha by doing service to a “Mahatma” (Spiritual Master). If that is the case, why can’t I directly do service to Bhagawan? Won’t I attain Moksha directly if I do service to Bhaagwan directly? Why should we have a “middleman” in the form of a “Mahatma” to decide and direct me to Moksha? Ultimately it is Bhagawan who grants it isn’t it? Hence, why don’t we directly please Bhagawan by offering our services to Him, instead of the Mahatma?”

This seems a valid question! Hearing thus, Rishabha Deva counters the question with a beautiful and a thought-provoking answer thus: “Oh disciples! You’ve asked a very important question here! My answer to your question goes like this: We can of course perform service to Bhagawan, and there’s no problem with that. However, if we’re becoming directly employed to Bhagawan to do service, we would start getting the ego in our mind and thus, eventually we would start losing focus. Our minds are not that mature enough to understand and realize such a great significance! Only if we offer our services to a “Mahatma” or the “Spiritual Master”, who dwells along with us with the same physical body, who also experiences happiness and sorrow like how we do, and who are at our same level of human beings, we would be able to shed our ego to the extent that we would become eligible to reach Moksha. Ultimately, it is the mind that we’re trying to control and add maturity too!”

This is an extremely important point and needs a bit of an elaboration in detail. Now why is Rishabha Deva saying this? Can’t we still attain Moksha by offering services directly to Bhagawan? The problem here is that, our ego would easily take over. For instance, if I’m directly reporting to the Prime Minister or President of India, won’t I get an undue “power” in my hand? In Organizational Behavioral science, this power that we derive from such a source is called “Information Power”. Since I have close proximity to the Prime Minister of India, which nobody else has in this entire country, I would gain lot of ego and status isn’t it? This would enhance my power and influence tactics in the system, and I would get prepared to go to any extent to satisfy my needs and wants! Similarly, if we get the undue advantage of close proximity to Bhagawan, what would we do? We would start going to Him for anything and everything that we want, use our influence in a way that would demean others, and ultimately enjoy a “superior” role as compared to others! However, for Bhagawan, all living beings are equal under His eyes. He doesn’t differentiate between the big, small, more powerful or less powerful. It is only for this reason of obtaining undue power, does Bhagawan not encourage us to come directly to Him to offer services. Of course, we shall still offer our worship and other things to Him, but when it comes to attaining Moksha, the best way to do so is through a Mahatma or the Spiritual Master.

Moreover, if we look at this point from a different angle, we can see that almost all people in this world would pray to Bhagawan for something or the other! Good people with good intentions pray to Bhagawan for World peace and harmony. Whereas, terrorists also destroy people in the name of Bhagawan only! Similarly, people who do illegal businesses, trade, etc. to make money also invoke Bhagawan’s name to achieve their agenda! So, we can see here that all sections of people go to Bhagwan for something or the other. If Bhagawan starts paying heed to all of these people, what would happen to his stature? This is why there is a framework in our “Sanaathana Dharma” that, to attain Moksha, one should always follow the Spiritual Master. This is because, not everybody can go freely to a Spiritual Master. If one has to get the closeness to a Spiritual Master, he/she is going to test this person left, right and center before accepting this person as his / her disciple. Thus, only those people who are really eligible to attain Moksha can stick in the vicinity of a Spiritual Master. Whereas, all sorts of people go to Bhagawan directly!

This is the difference here. This is the reason why Bhagawan has created this system of going through the guidance and support of a Spiritual Master. In fact, when Bhagawan appeared in front of Saint Ramanuja, what did He say to him? Bhagawan gives the power of granting Moksha to Saint Ramanuja and says thus, “Oh Ramanuja! From today, I give you the full authority to choose whom you want to grant Moksha to! I shall grant the Moksha to all those people whom you recommend!” Here, Ramanuja is considered to be the Spiritual Master and Bhagawan gives him all the rights to “recommend” for the highest goal. We can witness here that, Bhagawan Himself has created such a system to attain Moksha and this is exactly what Rishabha Deva is also explaining here.

Hence, for today, let us realize this point in a bit more depth and let us appreciate the significance of a realized Spiritual Master. If we have the aim of attaining the highest Moksha at the end of our lives, we should make the ardent effort to get associated with the right Spiritual Master for the same. We shall wait till the next episode to continue with Rishabha Deva’s next piece of advice! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an interesting discussion that compares and contrasts the teachings of Sage Kapilaachaarya and Rishabha Deva. Sage Kapilaachaarya’s accord was that, if we’ve to reach Bhagawan, it can be done so by establishing absolute control over the mind. Whereas, Rishabha Deva asserted that if we’ve to reach Bhagawan, we’ve to be in ardent service to the Spiritual Master (Mahatma). Now how do we get to this stage of being in constant service to the Spiritual Master? Will it be possible if we’re not having control of mind? The answer is “Never”! This is where the link lies – Sage Kapilaachaarya’s teaching of “mind control” is essential for implementing Rishabha Deva’s teaching of being in service to a Mahatma. This is very much applicable in today’s scenario too – Given all the distractions and disturbances that we have into worldly attachments, it is very tough for us to get an association with a Spiritual Master. If at all we’re lucky to get such an association, will we be able to dedicate time and effort in offering service to the Spiritual Master 24*7? This is a tough question for many of us to answer! Thus we can witness here that if we’re really able to devote our life in service to a Spiritual Master, this according to Rishabha Deva is the ultimate path to attain the goal of Moksha.

To extend this point further, it needs to be emphasized that this kind of devotion to a Spiritual Master is not that easy! A Spiritual Master is one who would put us into innumerable tests and examinations time to time. Life beside a realized soul is extremely tough. However, if we’re able to withstand the tests, examinations and hardships in living beside a Spiritual Master, it simply means that we’re gaining control of our mind and letting go of our ego.

Once there was a professional moviemaker who came to meet a Spiritual Master at some place in India. This person had excellent photographic skills and video-making ability. He went to the Spiritual Master and wanted to be of some service to Her. The Spiritual Master acknowledged this person’s request and directed him to go into the cowshed, feed the cows every day, bathe the cows, clean the surrounding areas and dispose the dung, etc. Ultimately, the service allocated to this moviemaker was to maintain the cowshed!

We can imagine here – A professional moviemaker with extraordinary skills in photography and videography, put into the cowshed to clean cows! He had to do it constantly 24*7 without a break! What would have happened to this person’s mindset? From a plush and a luxurious way of life, he has been reduced to nothing! But having said thus, this person was steadfast in his attitude of service towards his Master. He obeyed each and every word that his Master has told him, with the supreme faith. He kept his ego aside and started executing the task that was given to him. Later on after many days, the Spiritual Master was overwhelmed with this moviemaker’s attitude of service and blessed him. However, the moviemaker was curious as to why did the Master allocate this task, instead of some professional service to the Ashram in terms of video-making, audio-recording, etc. When he asked the Master his question, the Master replies thus: “When I had asked you to go and clean the cowshed, I had put you to test! I knew that you were a great moviemaker, videographer, etc. and your life has so far revolved only around TV sets and cameras! This was an exercise to remove the ego from your mind! Once the ego gets washed away, the mind would automatically get under control. Once the mind gets controlled, every action that you do would automatically be dedicated to Bhagawan!”

Thus from this small story, we can understand and infer how important is it for all of us to control our mind. Whenever we try doing it, the ego comes in between and thrashes our attempt. However, with the guidance and grace from the Spiritual Master, the mind can be channelized by thrashing the ego into pieces. This is exactly what Rishabha Deva says too! If we’ve to control our mind by ourselves, it is not an easy task to do in this lifetime! It is only with the help of a Mahatma, would we be able to achieve this task and to attain Moksha henceforth. So for today, let us realize and understand this important point, and let us try to channelize ourselves with the support and grace of a Spiritual Master. We shall wait till the next episode to move on further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an extended discussion on the significance of our “Akanda Bhaarata” and in the present day, how the most fancied terminology called “Secularism” has ruined our Bhaarata Desha to such an extent that it has started losing its ancient glory. However, with few reformative actions of the present-day government, we can firmly believe that we’ve got a bright chance to revive the lost glory of our “Bhaarata Desha”, and in the time to come, we can be confident that this would happen.

Moving on further with the accord that Sage Sukhaachaarya was narrating to King Parikshit, so far we’ve seen the length and breadth of Mother Earth in different dimensions. Also, we’ve witnessed the family lineage of Manu, until Aagneethra, who was instrumental in “segregating” the world into various segments according to what we’ve discussed so far. Now the narrative shifts from Aagneethra to his grandson, Rishaba Deva. We’ve witnessed already that Aagneethra had a son by name Naabi. Naabi in turn had a son by name Rishabha Deva. We’re now going to witness the narrative of this person. As Sage Sukhaachaarya continues his accord, he says how significant was this person by name Rishabha Deva. He was a renowned “Yogi” and had lot of disciples under him. Now we’re going to witness few excerpts of Rishabha Deva’s golden words of teachings to his disciples.

“Mahatsevaam dvaaramaahuhu vimuktesthamothvaaram yoshitaam sangi sangamam!

Mahaantaste samachittaaha prashaantaaha vimanyamaha suvrithaha saadhavaha!!”

Now we’re going to witness some important teachings of Rishaba Deva. It should be remembered by readers that we’ve witnessed the teachings of Sage Kapilaachaarya prior to this. What was the crux of Sage Kapilaachaarya’s teachings? There is a difference between “Prakriti” (Nature) and “Purusha” (The person who makes the nature function). Similarly there is a difference between the physical body (“Shareera”) and the “Aatman” (Soul). Once this difference is understood, we would be able to appreciate the significance of Bhagawan (“Paramaatman”) and we would get the interest to attain His feet at the end of this birth by orchestrating spiritual practices and “Saadhana”. This is the way through which we can attain Moksha, according to Sage Kapilaachaarya. Now we’re going to witness a slightly different narrative from Rishabha Deva. He exudes another important point here that if one devotes himself or herself to the service of a “Mahatma” in this world, this can pave the way to attain Moksha.

Thus if we compare and contrast the teachings of both Sage Kapilaachaarya and Rishabha Deva, we can witness two different “routes” to attain Moksha. While one says that we can attain Moksha by having absolute control over the mind, the other says that we can attain the same Moksha by being of ardent service to a “Mahatma” or a “Guru” (Spiritual Master). We might think that these are two different paths, however, if we do a careful in-depth analysis of both these teachings, we can see a link between the two. For instance, as Sage Kapilaachaarya says that we’ve to control our mind to such an extent that we wouldn’t think anything else other than Bhagawan and to attain him. Is it possible so easily? The answer is “No”! As readers read through this episode and if we make a resolution that from today we’re going to some how gain absolute control over our mind, will this resolution work? We might go and sit in one corner of our house, close our eyes and try to “control” our mind! But on the contrary, the mind’s wavering will increase more and more as we try to bring it under control! We can try this simple exercise for ourselves and check! Controlling the mind for even 5 to 10 minutes continuously is itself a mammoth task for normal people like us who lead a life amidst the Samsaara” and other worldly pleasures.

This is where the link comes here – It is only because of this difficulty in controlling our mind, Rishabha Deva explains that one can attain Moksha through the ardent service to a “Mahatma” or a Spiritual Master. The point that all readers should understand here is that, by offering ourselves to the service of a Spiritual Master, our mind automatically gets channelized and comes under control. We don’t need to undertake any special “Tapas” or any sort of “Spiritual Saadhana”. If we’re able to execute whatever the Spiritual Master asks us to do, this itself is a way through which our mind gets focused and through this focused mind, one can attain Moksha.

Now we’ve to combine the teachings of both Sage Kapilaachaarya and Rishabha Deva as discussed before. Sage Kapilaachaarya’s teaching forms “Part 1” of the story and Rishabha Deva’s teaching forms “Part 2 of the same story. In simple words, “Part 1” is possible only if “Part 2” is done properly! 😊 So for today, let us realize the significance of both Kapilaachaarya’s and Rishabha Deva’s teachings and let us learn a leaf out of the link between the two. We shall wait till the next episode to elaborate this important discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important accord on what comprises of “Akanda Bhaarata” and how did Mother India get the name of “Bhaarata Desha”. It was only because this great land was ruled by a king by name Bharata, who comes in direct lineage of Manu and Co., India is called “Bhaarata”. So this Bhaarata Desha was once extending from the present day Afghanistan in the west, till the present day Myanmar and Thailand in the east and also Sri Lanka in the south. However, after years of invasions of various external dynasties, this “Akanda Bhaarata” slowly started losing its glory, with mass genocides, mass conversions, anti-social activities, especially from one religion that is dreaded even today for all genocides across the world! However, the significance of our Bhaarata Desha is that, even after so many attempts to destroy our Sanaathana Dharma, it still remains intact with all our scriptural texts and its significance. In other words, if we’re still able to talk so much on our Sanaathana Dharma and its importance, even in this year of 2019, this itself is a great achievement of all our forefathers and ancestors, who have played an important role in safeguarding our texts, by resisting all possible attacks by anti-Hindu elements from various parts of the world.

As we discuss the importance of “Akanda Bhaarata” and “Bhaarata Desha”, we are of course at a pinnacle point, wherein grave mistakes which were orchestrated by several Indian governments in the past 70 odd years are being corrected one by one! It is important for us in this context to understand how the lost glory of our “Akanda Bhaarata” is being brought back slowly but steadily.

Firstly, the abolition of Article 370 in Kashmir – This was a remarkable milestone that was achieved by the present Indian government under the leadership of our Honorable Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi. This Article 370 was to give a “special status” to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, for reasons best known only to the anti-India elements. However, with the easing of this dubious Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir has been officially integrated as a mainstream part of the Indian political map. This is a huge step forward in bringing back peace and harmony in the state, which otherwise has been marred with violence, genocides, conversions, rapes, etc. by people of one religion, which is only known for all of these causes. This should be the first step in also bringing back those Hindu people (Kashmiri Pandits) whose native dwelling place was once Kashmir, but were brutally driven away and killed by the illegal invadors of our neighbouring country. I sincerely hope that our government would eventually pave the way for restoring and rehabilitating the Kashmiri Pandits back in their own motherland very soon.

Secondly, the Ayodhya verdict – Of course, this verdict came from the Supreme Court of India and this verdict has finally given the green signal to construct a temple for our beloved Bhagawan Rama at the very place where it should be. Many of us might be knowing the background of this decades-old case that was going on in the courts, without reaching any possible solution. Finally, the verdict has given cheers to loads of ardent followers of Sanaathana Dharma like us, wherein Hinduism has finally reigned supreme, despite of innumerable assaults on us by another religion with its own vested interests of destroying us. This has of course come as a rude shock to the other religion who tried hard to malign Hinduism by building their own listless place of so-called worship, which sadly they use for all other purposes except worship!

Thirdly, the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – This has of course created a lot of outrage across the country, but for all the wrong reasons. The sad thing that is happening in India today is that, many people don’t even understand the reason, why they’re protesting. The CAB clearly states that those people who are constituents of religions which are minorities in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh like Hindus, Parsis, Christians, Sikhs, etc. who are migrating into India because of severe religious persecutions in these countries would be granted Indian citizenship. This doesn’t have anything to do with people who are already citizens of India. Of course, the bill says that people from the majority religion in these countries would not be granted citizenship. I don’t understand what’s the problem with this! If people from this “majoritarian religion” of these countries have a problem, it is for them to sort it out! Why should we give them a damn in India? If it is only for the minority people from other religions who face religious persecutions, what problems should people have in our country? The major underlying reason why some opposition political parties in India are protesting against this bill is that, these illegal people who belong to the “majoritarian religion” of these countries are being used as “vote banks” for their political success. When this “vote bank” is getting destroyed, which should rightly be done, these listless political parties become jittery, because it’s the question of their existence!

Hence, as ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, I appeal to all readers and people across the country to not get misled by these anti-national and listless political parties who are trying to instigate violence, for their cheap political brownie points. Please, let us not fall prey to their vested interests and spoil the peace and harmony of our Bhaarata Desha. India would always remain “Bhaarata Desha” or “Akanda Bhaarata” or the holy land of “Sanaathana Dharma”, no matter how much these vested forces try their dirty hands in destroying this fabric. So for today, let us understand the modern-day significance of our “Akanda Bhaarata” and let us take a pledge, not to give into any sort of vested interest of people who’re trying to destroy the fabric of Sanaathana Dharma from our motherland! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the next point that Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to narrate! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on the various classifications or divisions that comprise of Mother Earth, according to Sage Sukhacharya. As a part of yesterday’s discussion, we had spoken about the seven Dveepas within which is the Jambudveepa where we currently live. Apart from the Jambudveepa, there are six other Dveepas such as Plaksha Dveepa, Shaamali Dveepa, Kusha Dveepa, Krauncha Dveepa, Shaakha Dveepa and Pushkara Dveepa, surrounding which, there are different oceans such as “Shaarodha”, “Ikshudasodha”, “Surodha”, “Dhrutodha”, “Ksheerodha”, Dadhi-mandodha” respectively. The Jambudveepa on which we live, is surrounded by the ocean of salt-water. Similarly, the second one, namely the Plaksha Dveepa is surrounded by an ocean comprising of sugarcane juice! The third Dveepa, Shaalmali is surrounded by the ocean of alcohol! Fourth one, Kusha Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean of ghee (Refined form of butter). The fifth one, Krauncha Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean comprising of milk! Sixth one, Shaaka Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean of curd (Another form of milk – commonly known as yogurt). Finally, the seventh one, the Pushkara Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean of pure water!

In the previous episode, we had also witnessed the distances that each of these seven Dveepas approximately cover. The JambuDveepa according to the Bhaagawatha Puraana covers a distance of 13.2 Lakh kilometers. However, in reality I do not know if this still holds good. Maybe the Jambudveepa covers the entire solar system that we live as part of? Or maybe the whole of the “Milky Way” galaxy that our solar system is a part of? We need more research to find this out!

Moving on thus with the story part, this Aagneethra whom we’re currently talking about, had nine sons. Thus, Aagneethra splits this Jambudveepa into nine different parts. This classification is what is termed as “Varsha”. It should be remembered that those of us who live in India, are part of the “Bhaarata Varsha”. Now Sage Sukhaachaarya explains how this split of nine “Varshas” took place and what are they.

“Gaayantim purvachittim naamaapsarasasam abimaapayaamaasa!

Naabhi Kimpurusha Harivarsha Ilaavrutha Ramyaka Hiranmaya Kurubhadraashva Kethumaala sanyaan Nava putraan ajanayath!!”

Thus Aagneethra had nine sons and the eldest son was gifted with the division of Bhaarata Varsha. The subsequent divisions of the Jambudveepa such as Naabhi, Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Ilaavruta, Ramyaka, Hiranmaya, Kurubhadraasva, Kethumaala, etc. went to the corresponding sons of Aagneetra. Having said thus, this is not going to be the end! These nine “Varshas” have their own innumerable subdivisions, called “Kandas”. Of course, it is highly complicated to go into minute details of these Kandas for each of the nine Varshas. We shall take it slowly and witness these important divisions as we progress with the subsequent episodes.

However, one thing that all readers should note is that, the first division of the Bhaarata Varsha and the most important one is the “Bharata Kanda”, which is the exact place where we live today. Therefore we say as part of the Sankalpa Mantra that we belong to the main “Jambudveepa”. Within this, we belong to the “Bhaarata Varsha” and within which we live in the “Bharata Kanda”, which is located in the south of the great Himalaya mountains. Now how big is this Bharata Kanda? If we begin from the “Paaraseeha Desha” and end it at Cambodia, this total distance between these two places comprise of what we call Bharata Kanda. This is what we call as “Akanda Bhaarata” in ancient Sanskrit terminology. In today’s geographical map, we can witness that this “Akanda Bhaarata” or “Undivided India” extends from parts of Afghanistan, traverses through Pakistan, today’s India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, extending up to the tip of Cambodia. Thus, in those years all of these places are known to be part of the Indian mainland and was called as India or “Bhaarata Desha”!

Now why did India get this name of Bhaarata Desha? It is because King Bharata ruled India for many years, our country has derived its name! In the Krita Yuga discussion, we’re going to witness a story of a great king by name Bharata. It is only after his excellency of administration, India derived its name called “Bhaarata”. This King Bharata shouldn’t be confused with the Bharata of Ramayana. Rama’s brother Bharata is different from this person. Readers should have this clarity as we move on. As we’ve seen so far, Manu had a son by name Priyavratha. Then came Aagneethra. From Agneetra came Naabi. From Naabi comes the next person by name Rishaba Deva. From Rishaba Deva comes King Bharata. It is thus only after this king Bharata’s name, has our country derived its name.

So for today, let us ponder over these important points and as we move forward, these are the fundamentals. Hence, readers should make it a point to take notes and remember these fundamentals thoroughly. Only then we would be able to understand the subsequent events that unfolded. We shall wait till the next episode to get along with this discussion further. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had continued witnessing details on how Mother Earth is classified and some interesting facts pertaining to a commonly chanted “Sankalpa-Mantra”. We’ve seen the significance of Jamboodveepa, Bhaarata-Varsha and Bharata-Kanda. This gives us some intriguing information on how continents and landmasses co-existed with the ocean comprised of saltwater. Thus, the landmass along with the oceans together constitute the Jamboodveepa, wherein we live. Of course, owing to innumerable geographical changes, we see today that certain land plates have drifted away from a huge landmass to form separate continents like that of present-day Australia, New Zealand, African plate getting separated from the bigger Asian plate, etc. All these changes took place over thousands and thousands of years and is still undergoing changes too. Maybe within the next thousand years we would again witness a major change in our geographical map! 😊

So far thus, we’ve witnessed only one “Dveepa” where we live. This as we know by now, is called “Jamboodveepa”. But is it the only “Dveepa” that the Sanaathana Dharma talks about? “No”! There are six other “Dveepas” that co-exist along with this Jamboodveepa! What are they? Sage Sukhaachaarya lists them out thus:

“Thadh ratha charana nemikrita parikaataaste sapta sandhava!

Jambu Plaksha Shaalmali Kusha Krauncha Shaakha Pushkara sanyaasteshaam!!”

So here we go! The other “Dveepas” that Sage Sukhaachaarya talks about are, Plaksha Dveepa, Shaamali Dveepa, Kusha Dveepa, Krauncha Dveepa, Shaakha Dveepa and Pushkara Dveepa. Apart from this, there are six sets of oceans that exist as part of the six other Dveepas, namely “Shaarodha”, “Ikshudasodha”, “Surodha”, “Dhrutodha”, “Ksheerodha”, Dadhi-mandodha”. We’ve already witnessed that the Jambudveepa is surrounded by the ocean of salted water. The second one, namely the Plaksha Dveepa is surrounded by an ocean comprising of sugarcane juice! The third Dveepa, Shaalmali is surrounded by the ocean of alcohol! Fourth one, Kusha Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean of ghee (Refined form of butter). The fifth one, Krauncha Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean comprising of milk! Sixth one, Shaaka Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean of curd (Another form of milk – commonly known as yogurt). Finally the seventh one, the Pushkara Dveepa is surrounded by the ocean of pure water!

Now having said thus, we might wonder what would be the distance of all these “Dveepas”, isn’t it? So here’s an answer for this question from Sage Sukhaachaarya! He says that the Jambudveepa on which we live, is measured to an area of 1 Lakh Yojanas! (It should be understood by readers that “Yojana” is an ancient form of measurement, which is non-existent today. However, scientific evidences have come to a conclusion that 1 Yojana can be equated to around 13.2 kilometers as per the modern-day measurement standards). The next Dveepa, which is the Plaksha Dveepa is almost double the size of the JambuDveepa, which measures to around 2 Lakh Yojanas. Similarly, the following five Dveepas are all double the size of each of them! In other words, the last Dveepa, which is the Pushkara Dveepa has an area of 64 Lakh Yojanas!

We might see a contradiction here – In today’s scenario if we fly from one end of the world to the other, it hardly comes to around 33,000 to 34,000 kilometers. However, Sage Sukhaachaarya talks of a mammoth size of the Jambudveepa to be close to 13 Lakh kilometers.  Perhaps, the world was that big during the time of creation and gradually has it shrunk in size to what we have today? This is one point that can be taken up for further in-depth research and if any of our readers are interested, you’re welcome to share your thoughts on this!

Moving on thus with the story part, this Aagneethra whom we’re currently talking about, had nine sons. Thus, Aagneethra splits this Jambudveepa into nine different parts. This classification is what is termed as “Varsha”, which we touched upon in brief in yesterday’s episode. The “Bhaarata Varsha” which we are part of, comes as part of this classification. So for today, let us understand upto this point. We shall discuss on this sub-classification and many more in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had moved on from the Puranjana-Avignyaata story and commenced the next important and interesting discussion on the different ways in which this world (Mother Earth) is divided into. We’ve now moved into the fifth Skandha of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana and here we’re witnessing Sage Sukhaachaarya’s enchanting discussion on the various divisions of Mother Earth, how were the oceans and land masses formed, etc. We’ve seen this same kind of classification with respect to time, initially when we started this project. Now we’re going to see this classification for the world. We’ve seen yesterday that the division of the world on which we’re living is called the “Bhoo-Mandala”, which is nothing but the surface of the earth. Above and below this surface, there are different “Lokhas” (Worlds). There are seven above us and six below us! In total thus, we can see fourteen different “Lokhas” into which the earth is classified.

It’s very interesting to find this kind of a description in modern-day geographical texts as well. We talk about four different “spheres” that are above the earth surface – Troposphere, Stratosphere, Ionosphere and Exosphere and around five to six different spheres underground – The clayey region, watery region, rocky region, and so on and so forth. If we try and equate both the modern-day findings and that what Sage Sukhaachaarya has described thousands of years ago, there is lot of matching, except of course for the fact that the technical terms used then and now are different. However, the concept remains grossly the same!

Having said thus, this classification is with respect to the distance in terms of height above and below the earth surface on which we live. Now if we’ve to look at the length-breadth classification, Sage Sukhaachaarya invokes a beautiful story of Aagneethra taking his chariot and going around the earth seven times. In fact, to trace back a little bit, Aagneethra’s first three sons did not have any interest in ruling any kingdom. The remaining four sons of his, wanted to have their own kingdoms and hence Aagneethra goes around with his chariot and makes seven rounds. As he makes seven rounds, the earth gradually takes shape into seven different oceans, which were full of salted water! Similarly, Aagneethra’s seven rounds created seven different oceans. These oceans were termed as “Samudra”. In the middle of all these seven oceans arose few masses of land that separated each of the seven oceans and these land masses were collectively called as “Dveepa”.

This is where, when we do the “Sankalpa” Mantra before every important spiritual offering, we chant the following:

“Jamboodveepe – Bhaaratavarshe – BharatahKande – Meroho – Dakshine paarshve – Sakaapthe…”

Here, we have the phrase called “Jamboodveepe” and we’re now witnessing an interesting description of what is “Dveepa”. It is to be noted that we currently live in the “Jamboodveepa”. Above and below us, there are seven different “Dveepa’s” that exist. So when we chant this section of the “Sankalpa-Mantra”, we mean to convey to Bhagawan that we’re performing this spiritual offering, sitting at the “Jamboodveepa” portion of Mother Earth. Within this Jamboodveepa, we are sitting amidst a huge land mass (can also be referred to a continent) called “Bharata Kanda”

(We might be able to roughly equate this to today’s Asian, Australian and part of African continents together. Perhaps in those days, the landmass of the earth was all together this way. However, owing to various natural changes that happened, in the likes of subsequent earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. certain land masses started drifting apart from the main Bharata Kanda and took shape into different “continents” that we see in today’s world map. Hence, we should understand here that when the world was created at the beginning, many landmasses were clubbed together and subsequently they separated from each other and the ocean waters came in the middle of all of them. This is an interesting point to make here, because modern day geological science too suggests a same theory!)

Amidst this huge “Bharata-Kanda”, we are sitting at a country called ”Bhaaratavarsha”. This, of course we might be familiar with – Bhaaratavarsha refers to the Indian subcontinent. When we say, “Indian Subcontinent”, it also encompasses the present-day India, along with several of its neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, parts of China, Nepal and a segment of the Arabian area. Of course, as years passed by, different kingdoms arose and thus, several new countries took shape. Thus, while chanting the Sankalpa-Mantra, readers should now be able to understand what exactly we are chanting! This is very important, as this mantra indicates the entire geological and geographical location at which we are living! In a similar way, we keep chanting many Mantras and Slokas monotonously without understanding the meaning behind it. If we have an in-depth view of the meaning of every Mantra that we chant, it would be mind-blowing and thus we would be able to understand and comprehend the depth of knowledge that our ancient Maharishis and Scholars have had, without going to any sort of school or a university! This is the real significance of our Hindu Sanaathana Dharma and this sort of an in-depth knowledge and understanding doesn’t exist in any other religion in the world, except Hinduism. This is the reason why Hinduism is a revered and a respected religion across the globe even today!

Thus, the point to be noted here is that, the “Dveepa” in which we live currently is called as the “Jamboodveepa”. As mentioned above, there are other “Dveepas” that constitute Mother Earth. What are they? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last few episodes saw some important discussions on a very interesting story that involves King Puranjana and his friend Avignyaata. This is a story that we can relate directly to our human life that we’re leading currently. Every aspect of our spiritual progress and cultivating the awareness of it, is spoken about in detail. Specially, in the last episode we had witnessed a discussion on how we maintain our spiritual progress intact, while we are still leading a worldly life. This is where we spoke about “detachment” and how we practice it in modern day life. Of course, we’ve spoken about this at multiple occasions before, this context assumes more significance because this entire story revolves around the situation wherein people tend to forget Bhagawan while pursuing more and more of the worldly pleasures. Hence the point here is that, although we might lead a materialistic worldly life at the outset, we still have to remember that we have a spiritual path to undertake, and being in a family life, as King Janaka rightly points out, both the husband and wife should together walk the path of Dharma. Thus, it is not that we shouldn’t get married, raise a family, etc. The point here is that, even though we raise a family, we should be able to lead ourselves and our family towards Dharma.

Thus at the end, just like how Avignyaata hand-holds King Puranjana at the end and takes him to a peaceful place devoid of all the sufferings, Bhagawan hand-holds us as our spiritual progress increases, and finally takes us to Vaikunta. Of course, I’ve explained this story in a very brief manner. If we have a look at the text, Sage Sukhaachaarya explains this in a mammoth amount of detail, which can be expanded into another 100 episodes easily! Thus, the story of King Puranjana and Avignyaata directly pertains to us as human beings and how are we trying to reach Bhagawan, despite so many distractions here and there, caused by our mind and its whims and fancies. So with this, we come to the end of the fourth Skandha of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. So in the fourth Skandha, we’ve witnessed the events and happenings of Utthaanapada’s life, as well as few people who came after him – Dhruva, Anga, Vena, Pruthu and finally we saw what happened to Puranjana. Now we move on with the fifth Skandha, which talks about Priyavratha and Aagneethra, who form the next generations after King Pruthu and Puranjana.

This Aagneethra had a son by name Naabhi. Naabhi had a son by name Rishabha-Deva. These two people, viz., Naabhi and Rishabha Deva were the people who came up with how the earth can be categorized. It can be remembered by readers that in our earlier episodes we’ve spoken about how “time” can be divided and sub-divided into many categories. Here we’re going to talk about how Mother earth (Bhoomi) can be divided and sub-divided into many such categories. These categorizations were done primarily by these two people and thus it is important for us to understand this in detail.

It should be understood by all of us that at the moment we’re living in the area called “Bhoo-Mandala” which is nothing but the earth’s surface. Above this “Bhoo-Mandala”, we have six “Lokas” that exist. Below us, there are seven “Lokas”. Thus we have fourteen “Lokas”, which comprise Mother Earth. This classification is based on the height above and below the basic “Bhoo-Mandala” where we live. Similarly if we’ve to look at the classification based on the “breadth”, Sage Sukhaachaarya puts this into perspective thus:

“Bhaada muktam bhagawatha utthamah shlokasya!

Shreemath charanaaravindha makarandharashya aavisheta chetasaha!!

Bhaagawatha paramahamsa daitha kathaam kinchith antharaaya vihataam!

Svaam shivatamaam padavim nah praayena hinvanti!!”

Sage Sukhaachaarya explains to King Parikshit as to how Mother Earth is classified into many parts. It all starts with this Aagneetra taking his chariot and going around the earth seven times. In fact, to trace back a little bit, Aagneethra’s first three sons did not have any interest in ruling any kingdom. The remaining four sons of his, wanted to have their own kingdoms and hence Aagneethra goes around with his chariot and makes seven rounds. As he makes seven rounds, the earth gradually takes shape into seven different oceans, which were full of salted water! Similarly, Aagneethra’s seven rounds created seven different oceans. These oceans were termed as “Samudra”. In the middle of all these seven oceans arose few masses of land that separated each of the seven oceans and these land masses were collectively called as “Dveepa”.

So for today, let us stop at this point and start understanding this important classification. Initially it might be a little confusing for readers to comprehend, however, as we progress into this discussion in the subsequent episodes, clarity would emerge. At this moment, we should not go into our modern day geography textbooks and compare what we see today in the world maps. This classification is grossly different from what we have today. Hence, readers shouldn’t get confused with this aspect. We shall wait till the next episode, to continue this discussion further. Stay tuned! 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important point from the story of King Puranjana and Avignyaata that at times when we are getting carried away with worldly pleasures, we tend to forget Bhagawan completely, and also the very purpose of taking birth in this world. This is exactly where King Puranjana got entangled into – At the time when he saw this beautiful girl, no matter how strange she was, King Puranjana fell in “love at first sight” and got married to her, despite warnings from his friend Avignyaata. Even if that was the case, Avignyaata had offered King Puranjana timely help if he had problems in his married life. However, in the walk of life that Puranjana was into, he totally forgot Avignyaata’s words! Eventually it took almost five births for King Puranjana to remember Avignyaata’s words. This is how we too get entangled into the “Maya” or the “Illusion” that these worldly pleasures create for us. We should realize that this Maya is a huge trap and if we’re going to fall into this, we’re going to entirely forget the mission of our life. We had witnessed another similar instance from the Valmiki Ramayana too, to illustrate this point. We saw how Sugriva was also carried away with the pleasures of his newly found position as a king and eventually forgot his promise to Bhagawan Rama. Finally it took a severe warning from Lakshmana and Bhagawan Rama to bring Sugriva back to his senses.

Having said thus, we might have few compelling questions here – If this so-called “Maya” or “Illusion” is this strong, should we refrain ourselves from having a married life? Should all of us refrain totally from all the worldly activities like earning money, having a wife, children, etc.? If that is the case, how will the world sustain? How will the next generation of human beings take shape? The answers to these questions are: Yes, of course we should have a marriage in life. We should have a wife and should have children. We should have a professional life for ourselves, earn money and support our family. There is no doubt in this absolutely. However, what is important for all of us to understand here is, are we getting carried away into anything of these totally? We should ask this question within us.

For instance, there is a difference between earning money and craving for money, isn’t it? Money can be earned through legitimate ways, either by starting a business, running the business successfully and ethically, or working as part of an organization, etc. There are of course innumerable ways of earning money in the right and legitimate way. However having said that, there might be some people who are “craving” for earning more and more money and hence, they tend to resort to earning money through unethical practices like stealing, pickpocketing, selling unwanted products like drugs, etc. or by involving themselves in anti-social activities. This is where the problem is – We should earn money, but not run crazy behind it. If we’re immersing ourselves totally into earning money, this is where we get trapped into the “Maya” and face loads of problems later on in life. This is where, we talk about having “detachment” in whatever we do. In other words, money is important for having a peaceful and a sustainable lifestyle. However, if the need for money goes out of control, we would start resorting to unwanted practices, wherein this same money would end up ruining our lives completely! We’ve seen and are seeing so many instances of people wherein their desire to earn more and more money land them in jail, fighting corruption cases in the courts, etc. Thus, if we develop this quality of “detachment”, we can still enter into the worldly life, but will not be carried away too much into it.

Similarly, when it comes to marriage, all of us should get married and have a decent family. This is something that all of us must do. The concept of marriage has been created by Bhagawan to follow the path of Dharma together with our spouse. We can find this point explained well in the Valmiki Ramayana again. When King Janaka gives his daughter Sita in marriage to Bhagawan Rama, what does he say?

“Iyam Sita mama suthaa saha dharma chareethava!”

King Janaka says to Rama thus, “Oh Rama! Here is my daughter Sita! I’m giving her in marriage to you for the sole purpose of leading a life of Dharma together.” It should be remembered that marriage is like a bullock cart, which is driven by two buffaloes tied together. The cart will run on the road properly only if the two cows pull it in tandem. However, if one of the buffaloes doesn’t cooperate or tries to fight with the other one, what would happen to the cart? The cart would break midway and fall on the road, isn’t it? Similarly, the purpose of marriage is for all of us to follow the path of “Dharma” by holding the hands of our life partner. Marriage is not just for enjoying the pleasures, having kids, earning money, property, etc. Of course, all of it is important, but only to a certain extent. The ultimate purpose of life should not be forgotten while we are in our married life. This is exactly where King Puranjana lost the plot! Once he got married, he forgot everything else in life, except his partner! This led him to unwanted issues, which made him totally forget Avignyaata, who was his guiding light.

So for today, let us realize this important point from this King Puranjana-Avignyaata story. Let us invoke the thought of detachment within us and look at “Dharma” first, before anything else! We shall wait till the next episode to carry this discussion forward. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an interesting and a strange story involving King Puranjana and Avignyaata and the in-depth meaning behind it. In a way, we are again revolving around the vicious birth-death cycle and how this prevents us from attaining our goal of Moksha. We compared King Puranjana to our vicious mind and Avignyaata to Bhagawan. Just as King Puranjana marries a strange girl and had to undergo innumerable sufferings in the worldly life, we as human beings in this world are thickly married to our mind, and as a result, undergo innumerable sufferings in this world as we go by the whims and fancies of our mind. At that particular moment, because of the temptations of our mind, we tend to commit ourselves into something that might be unwarranted, but later on, owing to the severe consequences that we might face for our actions, we would start repenting for our mistakes. This is where, King Puranjana also got into! As Avignyata warned him not to get married to this beautiful girl, Puranjana gave into his mind’s temptations and desires. Ultimately by committing himself to marriage, he had to undergo innumerable trials and tribulations, not only in this birth, but also for five more births in the future.

However, one important point that we need to discuss from this story is that, when we are immersed in the “Samsaara” (Worldly pleasures), we often tend to forget Bhagawan completely! As we’re enjoying ourselves in the newly-obtained pleasures, our focus is only on how to enjoy the pleasure and not on Bhagawan. This is what happened even in the Valmiki Ramayana, wherein Sugriva was caught up with his newly found pleasure! In the previous Ramayana project we’ve witnessed a situation wherein, Bhagawan Rama defeats and kills Vaali, who was Sugriva’s brother. Eventually after the war was over, Sugriva was coronated the king of Vaanaras and Sugriva started to rule the Vaanara kingdom. But prior to this, what was the agreement between Bhagawan Rama and Sugriva? The agreement is that, Bhagawan Rama will save Sugriva from his wicked brother Vaali and coronate him to the throne. In return, Sugriva would help Bhagawan Rama and Lakshmana to trace the whereabouts of Mother Sita. However, as Sugriva ascended the throne, he got carried away with all the pleasures of being a king! He had many women around him, and was immersed in drinks and enjoying all the pleasures associated with it. Eventually, Sugriva forgot that there’s someone by name Rama waiting for him with all his agony to find out Mother Sita. Months passed by and Sugriva never turned up to see Rama! Upon realizing this, and upon looking at Bhagawan Rama’s pitiable condition, Lakshmana got angry with Sugriva! His immediate question to Bhagawan was this: “Oh Rama! I can’t see you in such a pathetic condition! Should I kill Sugriva for what he has done to us?” Bhagawan replies thus: “Oh Lakshmana! Please understand that it is harsh to blame Sugriva for what he’s doing! This is the nature of the world. When people find new pleasures in life, it is natural for them to forget everything else in the process. So, just go to the Vaanara palace and give a warning to Sugriva that if he’s not going to keep up his promise, he would meet the same end as that of his brother’s!”

Thus, here too we witness how Sugriva completely forgot Bhagawan Rama when he found solace with his new pleasures in life! If Sugriva himself has to get carried away with such things, where are we today in the Kali Yuga? So, this is bound to happen to all of us. Thus the point here is that, when we are getting into some pleasures in this world, we easily tend to forget Bhagawan and eventually this derails us from the path of Moksha! This incident of Sugriva and that of King Puranjana should be eye-openers for us to realize that when we’ve taken the spiritual path, we should try our best to be steadfast in it, without deviating from it unwantedly. This is where, when Avignyaata offered help to King Puranjana if he had problems in his married life, King Puranjana had totally forgotten the words of Avignyaata owing to his sheer ignorance! Had he called out Avignyaata even at a time when his problems weren’t mounting to such an extent, he would have been relieved and recovered long back! However, that wasn’t meant to be the case and King Puranjana had to undergo the suffering for five long births!

This is the same story with all of us as well – Whenever we’re at the peak of our pleasure and happiness in life, we tend to forget Bhagawan totally! However, when we get entangled into all sorts of problems in life, we tend to curse and blame Bhagawan for all our suffering! How unfair this can be? Is Bhagawan the cause of our suffering? Absolutely not! If we’re committing the mistakes and if we’re undergoing the suffering for it, how would Bhagawan be responsible for this? Ultimately, of course, all we can do is to pray to Bhagawan to pull us out of the suffering – Just like how King Puranjana called out for Avignyaata for help at the peak of his suffering! Having said and done, by listening to our ardent and fervent prayers, Bhagawan’s heart would certainly melt and He would rescue us somehow. So let us have this faith in us as we move ahead and let us realize that we should always have Bhagawan in our scheme of things as part of our everyday life routine. We should allocate time for our spiritual practices and for helping others who are in need. This would be the best possible way to reach Bhagawan, even though we might be entangled in the worldly life.

So for today, let us realize this and let us wait till tomorrow’s episode to move forward! Stay tuned! 😊