ViBha Class Notes: October 23, 2022

Whenever we encounter news either from reading or listening, we realize how much suffering there is in society, in families, and in individualities. This suffering is also felt as imbalance. For example, there is an imbalance of rights in society, an imbalance of power in families, an imbalance of acidity in individuals. Whenever there is a micro imbalance in our creation, that can be corrected by a Sadhu — by a great visionary, like an Acharya Shankara.

Whenever there is a macro imbalance, then a Sadhu cannot tend to that. That is when an Avatara is needed to restore balance. What we have been doing for years in Vedanta in Bhagavata is to understand and appreciate that everyone of us has to do our part. Be a Sadhu. Live by Vision. If we are engaged in this, and if we have done our part, we will then leave the rest. We will let the Avatara or Bhagavan Narayana to deal with the macro imbalance. Anyone who is practicing this will be energetic, enthusiastic and empathetic. We will not feel tired, dejected and frustrated. Pujya Swami Chinmayananda shared — Do your best and leave the rest. We are studying this in detail, so we have this conviction.

We are celebrating Deepavali, and it is special in reference to Bhagavan Rama, but we have also studied Deepavali in reference to Bhagavan Krshna, starting with the second day of Deepavali. The second day is called Naraka Chaturdashi. So here is the history of this celebration. We studied this in Chapter 10, Verse 59.

In this Chapter, we have 16,000 Devis who send word to Bhagavan Krshna that they wanted to be saved by Him as they had been imprisoned. And Bhagavan listened to their plea. Personalizing this, we have to know that God listens to our prayers. Prayer should be the first option, and not the last. That is also why in the Contentment challenge, the second C is Conversate, ask for help. So Bhagavan came, and the first Asura that He interacted with was Mura. So one of Bhagavan Krshna’s names is Murari. Mura felt that Bhagavan Krshna was his enemy, not the other way around, as Bhagavan Krshna has no enemies.

Mura had five heads. All of us have five heads as well — our sense organs are Mura. And how we can practice being Murari is through Dama, which means calmness of body. Our bodies are not calm, we want to eat more, talk more. But when our body is calm, that is when our sense organs are checked. That is why staying physically healthy is important as the body is more calm then.

After defeating Mura asura, Bhagavan Krshna interacted with Bhauma Asura. He is actually the son of Devi Bhoomi, the son of the Earth. But how he lived and made the Earth feel, he came to be known as Naraka Asura — the one who had hell inside and outside. Bhagavan Krshna defeated Naraka Asura, and all of those Devis were freed. What is very, very special about this is that Bhagavan Krshna uplifted all those Devis who were imprisoned. He decorated them and made them feel like Ranis. He didn’t just externalize this, but eventually married them all, and His marriage is Deepavali. He freed them on day one, and married them the next day.

Personalizing this marginally, do we know who Naraka Asura is? We are! We live in Naraka here, and we abuse our own Mother. Isn’t that how we are living with the environment? We are Naraka Asura. We are children of the Earth. We were born from her, and will go back to her. So Naraka Chaturdashi should not be a casual mention. Let us be the one who serves the Earth, and not steals from the Earth.

Day four is called Govardhana puja. It is when Bhagavan Krshna, as a child, was observing that His father and the community were all worshiping Indra, the Sura, by collecting lots of food and leaving it out as an offering to Indra. Bhagavan Krshna then challenged His father by having a dialogue with him. He did not argue with him. He simply asked His father why he was worshiping Indra when he should be worshiping Karma. The implication being that when we follow our responsibilities, we create our own fate. By worshiping Indra, they were hoping that someone else was going to help their fate. Bhagavan Krshna encouraged them to worship Karma, as in being responsible, and their fate would be better. So they did this by collecting food again, and offering it to Govardhana parvatha, a big hill. And what did they do with all this food? They didn’t dance around this food. They didn’t let it just sit there, but gave it to the cows, to the Brahmanas, to the needy. Govardhana puja was not about them, but about coming together for those who could use this. What is the purpose of our community? Not just our community, but society. We should serve that which is bigger.

Making this more personal — Go means senses — our eyes, ears, taste, touch and smell. Vardhana means to lift. Who lifted Govardhana parvatha? Bhagavan Krshna did. And He did this in such a focused way — left hand little finger. His point is — this whole celebration is to direct our sense organs, rather than be controlled by them. We must lift up our sense organs. These are ways we can think of Deepavali, in a less ritualistic way, and more in a practical way.

The fifth day of Deepavali is Bhaiya Duja, an extension of the Govardhana puja. A way we can use our sense organs is to serve our family, like Bhaiya or brother in this case. It is a reminder to use who we are, to serve our family, our community, our society.

Coming back to Bhagavata — The more evolved or egoless we are, the more open we are to learning. If we find it hard to learn, that may be an indicator of a strong presence of ego. The personality we are learning from right now, Rshi Dattatreya, has no ego. So what is this whole universe to him? It is a Vishwa Vidyalaya. The whole universe is a University to him. And for all of us, we go through life through anubhava or experience. Those who are less evolved, they just experience, but those who are more evolved, that anubhava is followed by manana. What can I learn from this relationship? What can I learn from this accident? What can I learn from this world event?

Rshi Dattatreya is telling Raja Yadu that –

• His first teacher is the Earth. What he learned from the Earth was Kshanti — forgiveness. So our first practice is to forgive. What is beautiful is that built into Kshanti, is Shanti. Those who forgive are more peaceful. We should just say we are sorry, and that relationship will be better.
• The second teacher is the Air or Wind. A teaching that Vivekji learned at the Vedanta course, from Acharya Shankara’s Atma Bodha was — One should be like the Wind. The Wind moves without getting stuck. We should be the same. Specifically, our practice is to purify. We should be pure, and whoever interacts with us should feel more pure as well.
• The third teacher is Space. When we reflect on Space, that which is gross cannot affect that which is subtle. That which is subtle cannot affect that which is causal. As an example, Fire and Air. Fire is subtle, and Air is more subtle. So Fire cannot burn Air. So Bhagavan’s implication here is that we should be less gross-minded. We should not make things personal. The more gross-minded we are, we make everything personal. The more subtle-minded or causal-minded we are, we don’t take anything personally. Bhagavan Krshna shares in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita that the Spirit cannot be cut, wet, burned, nor dried. Weapons that cut are made from the Earth. So Earth, Water, Fire cannot touch Space, and the Spirit is beyond Space. So it means that we cannot be killed. From Space specifically, our practice is to Absorb, as much of the negativity that is inflicted upon us. To just absorb, and not be affected by that negativity.
• Our fourth teacher is Water. There is the physical Water and the metaphysical Water that is the Ganga. The original source of the Ganga is Bhagavan Narayana’s toe. Bhagavan Brahma had brought Water to wash Bhagavan Narayana’s feet. When that Water started to fall, that Water would have hit the Earth, and crushed it. So Bhagavan Shiva came in between to catch all that Water, and slowly allowed it to fall to the Earth, where we get to experience it. Metaphysically, that original source of the Ganga is Shravana. Bhagavan Shiva then becomes Manana. And what should we do with Ganga on Earth? Practice or Nidhidhyasana, and specifically our practice is to refresh. Whenever matters are tough, we must refresh or practice. These days people are so busy that they don’t know how not to be busy. It’s like we are too weak to take medicine. Wouldn’t that be an awful case? So when we are dejected, we must refresh ourselves with reading, writing and reflecting, and as people interact with us, they should feel refreshed.
• Our fifth teacher is Fire. Fire is that which is always moving higher. For us to move higher or evolve, we can’t be held back as much by articles. The more materialistic we are, the harder it will be for us to move. As we move higher and become more evolved, we cannot be held back by articles, nor criticism. If we want to evolve to be a visionary in life, everyone who doesn’t have our vision, is not going to understand us. Then we should be like Fire. If people put garbage or gold at us, for Fire, it is the same. We should not be affected by it.

More insights about fire that Rshi Dattatreya shares based on Bhagavata — Fire pervades all things made out of wood. Similar to knowledge, Fire manifests in wood only in some places. Knowledge is everywhere, but only those who have that acumen, are able to tune into that knowledge.

For those who celebrate Deepavali — the container is the body, the wick is the mind, the oil is our print or vasanas. What are we supposed to do with the mind? Light it on Fire, with the Fire of knowledge.

One more insight about Fire — It keeps on replenishing itself through tapa. The more it burns, the brighter it becomes. The practice for Fire is to accept. A way to accept others is to focus on their strengths.

Summarizing our practices:

1. From Earth — to forgive
2. From Air — to purify
3. From Space — to absorb
4. From Water — to refresh
5. From Fire — to accept

Skanda 11:7:48 — The next teacher is the Moon.

From birth to cremation, all of this change happens to the body, and not to the Spirit, just like the phases of the Moon. The Moon waxes and wanes, but does the Moon actually wax and wane? No it doesn’t. But people don’t realize that because time is so stealth-like, that we don’t realize this is not happening to the Spirit.

Those who are busy, don’t realize anything. They are just busy. The moon waxing and waning is all about perspective. If our perspective is from the Earth, the moon waxes and wanes, but if we are on the moon or at a higher perspective, it wouldn’t wax or wane. If we have a low perspective on the world, it is an awful place. If we have a high perspective on the world, it is an awesome place, this same world where Bhagavan Krshna is living. We just have to have that perspective. So Rshi Dattatreya emphasizes here that we don’t perceive this because we are stuck on time. Everyone is rushing without realizing. We came across this same message in the Ramayana where Bhagavan Rama points out to Shri Lakshmana that the fish are swimming in the Water that is evaporating, but they don’t realize that since they are busy.

We have to remember that we should let go of articles, beings and circumstances, but we are so busy with that which is not important, that there is no tuning into that which is important. Vivekji shared that we should forget about our IQ, and just invest in our EQ, and we will be much more evolved and successful in life. Our seventh practice is to observe. The more we observe, the less busy we are, and we have a higher perspective. How to practice being more observant is by being more organized. Those who are organized are less busy, and can see more.

The next teacher is the Sun. Why Vivekji is focusing on the Sun and Moon is because Bhagavan Krshna is relating to the Moon, and Bhagavan Rama is relating to the Sun, the best Deepavali celebration for us!

Skanda 11:7:50 — The sense objects are coming into the sense organs, and at the right time, those same sense objects are given by the sense organs. The philosophy is that — For the one who is content, lots of sense objects come into their sense organs, and a lot of sense objects leave their sense organs, but they are never caught up in this coming and going, just like the Sun. The sun evaporates Waters, condenses those Waters, and distributes those Waters, but the Sun never gets wet.

Another way to understand this — The sense objects come to the sense organs, and what Rshi Dattatreya has learned, and how he practices is that he shares those sense objects. They have come to him, consciously or unconsciously, but he shares them. In our culture, whenever we earn resources like money, often that earning, those resources come with some negativity. So that is why some of those resources have to be given for that whole matter to be more shuddha, for one to be moved by those resources more. For those who only get and get and get, and don’t give, they are not moved by those resources. When there is the right balance of getting and giving, like a Yogi, that is when one is moved.

What Pujya Swami Tejomayananda shared — What we can learn from the Sun, is to not depend on sense objects (articles, beings, circumstances), and to not make anyone dependent. Subtly, our ego makes us want others to depend on us. That is not living like the Sun. The practice is to share. If we don’t share our privilege, then we are underprivileged. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda shared about the Sun and the ocean, that the Sun evaporates all the salty water, and when it rains, it becomes sweet water. For all of us with our salty personalities, sharing makes it more sweet. If someone is salty with us, let us be more sweet with them.

Discussion: What have you learned the most from Vedanta in Bhagavata? What have you practiced the most? How has your life changed through Vedanta in Bhagavata?