TattvaTales - Part IV

Once Narada said to Krishna, “Lord show me Maya.” After a few days Krishna asked Narada to make a trip with him towards a desert. After walking several miles Krishna asked Narada to fetch some drinking water. Narada entered a nearby village and knocked at a door which was opened by an extremely beautiful young girl. At the sight of her Narada forgot everything and began talking with the girl. That talk ripened into love; he asked the girl’s father for the daughter; they were married, lived there and had three children. After twelve years his father-in-law died and Narada inherited his property. He lived, as he seemed to think, a very happy life with his wife and children, his fields and his cattle, and so forth.

Then came a flood. One night the river rose until it overflowed its banks and flooded the whole village. Houses fell, men and animals were swept away and drowned and everything was floating in the rush of the stream. Narada had to escape. With one hand he held his wife, and with the other two of his children; another child was on his shoulders and he was trying to ford this tremendous flood. After some time the child on his shoulders fell and was swept away by the current of the water. In trying to save that child, Narada lost his grasp of the other children who were also lost. At last his wife was also torn away from his tight clasp and Narada was thrown on the bank, weeping and wailing in bitter lamentation.

Behind him came a gentle voice, “My child, where is the water? You went to fetch a pitcher of water for me, and I have been waiting for you; you have been gone for quite half-an-hour.” “Half-an-hour!” Narada exclaimed!  Twelve whole years seemed to have passed through in his mind; but in fact all these scenes had happened in half-an-hour only. And this is Maya.

Such is the power of Maya that has created this boundaryless cosmos from beginningless time and shall continue to do so endlessly. 

“A man died, leaving behind 17 elephants as his only wealth. He had three sons, According to his will; the first son should get one-half of his wealth, the second one-third and the third one-ninth.  Now how could the sons divide 17 elephants among themselves in the manner stipulated? The king, who happened to be passing by on his elephant, said he would solve the problem. He alighted from his elephant and put it beside the 17 of the dead man’s. He said he had added his elephant to the 17 to make the number even. So the first son got one-half of the 18 that is nine elephants. The second got one-third of the 18 that is six. The third got two, one-ninth of the 18 elephants. The king said: “This leaves one elephant, the one I added to your father’s collection. I take it back now that the division of the elephants among you is over.” The sons were happy that the division was in accordance with their father’s will.

However, was the division indeed in accordance with their father’s will? It was not. In the story example above, did the 18th cow exist? Was it different? It appeared to exist, and different but did not exist in the dividing among the brothers. It was a mere illusion that they had kept to the provisions of the will. Such is the nature of illusion that we take comfort from what we see as just and get upset over what we perceive as unjust.”

An eccentric philosophy professor gave a one question final exam after a semester dealing with a broad array of topics. The class was already seated and ready to go when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on top of his desk and wrote on the board:

"Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist."

Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over 30 pages in one hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair. One member of the class however, was up and finished in less than a minute.

A week later when the grades were posted, the rest of the group wondered how he could have gotten an "A" when he had barely written anything at all.

His answer consisted of two words: "What chair?"

In the below analogies of Mahabharata & Ramayana respectively, the concept of evolution of five elements and the three qualities of Sattva, Tamas & Rajas from Maya is explained.

The Pandavas in Mahabharata represent the 5 elements which in turn represent the 5 energy chakras in our spinal column. The chronology is also critical here to understand the process of creation of the 5 elements from the subtle to the gross – Subtlety is measured by an object’s pervasiveness & the number of perceivable qualities it has.

Yudhistira – Yudhi means in the battle, sthira means tranquil or undisturbed. Yudhi-stra is the symbol of peace and the sky or ether element. Sky is the bridge of transcendence to the conscious state and represented as throat chakra (Vishuddhi chakra). Ether remains unchanged, and undisturbed by the violent plays of nature’s forces; it is the first element with the quality of sound – Sound travels in the medium of space & space has an inherent sound.

Bheema – is Prana, the Power of Vitality, the Air Element in the Dorsal Center, or Anahata Chakra. He is the son of the Vayu deva, the God of Wind. Air has the qualities of sound & touch, therefore, it can be heard & felt. The aspiring Sadhaka, practices his Pranayama that is controlled by this center, thereby calming the breath and controlling the mind and all of its sense objects. The breath has got such strength that it can destroy all tendencies of the mind. That is why Bheema kills the 100 sons of Dhritarashtara.

Arjuna – Arjuna the third represents fire element. Rajju means rope or bondage and na means no. This represents that we are really not bonded, but free. Arjuna represents the liberating thoughts in us and brings peace. Arjuna is the enquiring mind. The enquiring mind burns like fire and destroys the darkness of ignorance. This burning fire is what needs to be given direction and that is why out of the 5 brothers Arjuna was taught Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna thus represents the fire element symbolized as the navel chakra (Manipura Chakra) which has the qualities of sound, touch, form and therefore, can be heard, felt & seen.

Nakula, is Adherence, the Power to Obey Rules of Dharma, the Water Element in the Sacral Center, or Swadhishthana Chakra. Water element has the qualities of sound, touch, form & taste and can be heard, felt, seen & tasted. As such, Nakula represents adherence to Dharmic principles which allows the Sadhaka to control mental tendencies.

Sahadeva, is Restraint, the Earth Element in the Coccyx Center, or Muladhara Chakra. Earth element is the grossest of the 5 elements with qualities of sound, touch, form, taste & smell – it can be heard, felt, seen, tasted & smelt. Sahadeva is the Power of Resistance by which restless outer sense organs can be controlled.

We can see that the Mahabharata is not just another grandeur story that happened long time ago. It is something that is happening right now - Inside us. Every moment we live, there is a Mahabharata happening with an interplay of the evolution of the 5 elements within us.

Ramayana is not a mere story. It is the story we live every moment of our lives.

Dasaratha symbolises the intellect that controls the senses. The three queens of Dasaratha are the three Gunas known as Sattwa (tranquillity), Rajas (activity), and Tamas (malice, ignorance, darkness). 

Vasishtha and Viswamitra are the gurus who guide the intellect. Rama is the transcendental Self and Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna (Rama’s three brothers) are the triple manifestations of God as immanent, God as in-dwelling spirit, and God as soul, respectively.

Manthara (the maid servant) symbolises the negative qualities that poisons Kaikeyi (the Rajasic-Tamasic mind). Demons and demonesses in Ramayana are the evil propensities in us. Ravana is the Rajasic ego. Kumbhakarana is the Tamasic ego. Vibhishana represents the Sattwic ego. Rama’s wife Sita is the Cosmic Energy (Kundalini) abducted by Ravana, the ego, for wrong use.

So, through (with the help of) Hanuman, symbolising Pranayama, or rhythmic breathing, you will find the location of Sita, the energy and convey the news of Rama, the Self. Rama’s destruction of Ravana and Kumbhkarana symbolises the destruction of Rajasic and Tamasic egos. The installation of Vibhishana symbolises the establishment of Sattwa Guna and equanimity through Self-realisation. Union of Rama and Sita is the union of Shakti with the eternal consciousness of the true self. Rama’s coronation symbolises the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. This, in short, is the esoteric meaning of Ramayana.

Once a rich man was passing through a forest, when three robbers surrounded him and robbed him of all his wealth. After snatching all his possessions from him, one of the robbers said: 'What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him.' Saying this, he was about to strike their victim with his sword, when the second robber interrupted and said: 'There's no use in killing him. Let us bind him fast and leave him here. Then he won't be able to tell the police.' Accordingly the robbers tied him with a rope, left him, and went away.

After a while the third robber returned to the rich man and said: 'Ah! You're badly hurt, aren't you? Come, I'm going to release you.' The third robber set the man free and led him out of the forest. When they came near the highway, the robber said, 'Follow this road and you will reach home easily.' 'But you must come with me too', said the man. 'You have done so much for me. We shall all be happy to see you at our home.' 'No,' said the robber, 'it is not possible for me to go there. The police will arrest me.' So saying, he left the rich man after pointing out his way.

"Now, the first robber, who said: 'What's the good of keeping the man alive? Kill him', is tamas. It destroys. The second robber is rajas, which binds a man to the world and entangles him in a variety of activities. Rajas makes him forget God. Sattva alone shows the way to God. It produces virtues like compassion, righteousness, and devotion. Again, sattva is like the last step of the stairs. Next to it is the roof. The Supreme Brahman is man's own abode. One cannot attain the Knowledge of Brahman unless one transcends the three gunas."