ViBha Class Notes – October 29, 2023

Satyam Param Dhimahi – This is the 163rd time that we have chanted this. Satyam has a similar connotation to the theme of Section 12 which is dissolution, foundation or shelter. In Skanda 12, what we are extrapolating is – All that has happened in Bhagavata has come and gone, including Bhagavan Krshna, but what has not come and gone is Satyam, is Existence-Awareness-Joy. That is why Dhimahi means to contemplate on this, for us to feel that the only resort in our lives that are coming and going, is Sat, is Existence-Awareness-Joy, or we chant Sachidananda Rupaya, the form of Existence-Awareness-Joy. 

Many of us are educated in various fields. Yet, when we need help we ask for help from others who need help, and that need for help is compounded. If we remember in the 10th Skanda which focused on Bhagavan Krshna, even when those villagers needed food, they would go to Bhagavan Krshna and find their shelter in Bhagavan Krshna, and He would find them food. There is this specific scene where the Brahmanas didn’t give food, but the Brahmanis came from their homes and gave food. Has our formal education helped us to find shelter in the truth? This informal education certainly has!

In Section 12, Chapter 6, Rshi Brihaspati is sharing with Raja Parikshita’s son, insights about dying. Raja Janmajaya is angry that his father was killed and had died. So Rshi Brhaspati is sharing some insights into this and one insight that he emphasizes is that the less possessive we are, the more we age and die gracefully. Shared differently, if we are holding on to less things, we are more agile then. So Rshi Brhaspati teaches him to be less possessive. This chapter is completed with what the vision of, not just Shrimad Bhagavata, but the Shastras, the scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, is. 

The genesis is that our Shastra begins with Nada, when Bhagavan Narayana gave birth to Bhagavan Brahma, the Creator of creation, He felt this Presence inside him and this Presence became more and more manifest and it ended with Gayatri, the Gayatri Mantra. The meaning of Gayatri is gaayantam trayate – that which is sung helps us to cross over fear. This trayate is specifically about fear. When there is more darkness, we have more fear. Gayatri Mantra is about bringing brightness and light into our lives. So this chapter ends with the emphasis of Gayatri Mantra, from Nada to Gayatri.

Skanda 12, Chapter 7 is tuning into the characteristics of our Puranas. Chapter 6 is about all scriptures, but in Chapter 7, it is about the vision of a particular scripture which is the Puranas. Shrimad Bhagavata is a Purana. 

Skanda 12:7:6 – Rshi Ugrashava is teaching Raja Shaunaka. They are in this elaborate ritual where there is a group of people asking questions about life and Rshi Ugrashava is answering. 

adhīyanta vyāsa-śiṣyāt

saṁhitāṁ mat-pitur mukhāt

ekaikām aham eteṣāṁ

śiṣyaḥ sarvāḥ samadhyagām

Each of them studied one of the six anthologies of the Purāṇas from my father, Romaharṣaṇa, who was a disciple of Śrī Vyāsadeva. I became the disciple of these six authorities and thoroughly learned all of their presentations of Purāṇic wisdom.

Rshi Vyasa taught six Puranas to six different students, and these Puranas were all learned by Rshi Romaharshana who was the father of Rshi Ugrashava. Rshi Ugrashava learned each of these Puranas and is sharing all this with Raja Shaunaka because he learned it from a teacher, who learned it from another teacher, who learned it from another teacher.  So our Puranas are not casual subjects. Rshi Shuka is gone, Raja Parikshita is gone too. So the main teacher and student in Bhagavata have moved on. This is all now being tied together for us. 

Here are a few reflections before we move on to the next Chapter. Right at the beginning when we began our course, there were six questions that were asked. The first one was about goodness and the next four about Avatara and the last one was about Dharma. The sixth question was – Where does Dharma live? – because Bhagavan Krshna was not with the people as He was before. What is being shared here in a very abstract way is that Bhagavan Krshna is the Creator and He has infused Dharma into creation. Shared differently, Dharma as in philosophy, for us it is the Upanishad. But now this has been infused into not a philosophical map, but an educational map like the Purana, specifically Bhagavata Mahapurana. 

So the direct answer to – Where does Dharma live?, it is in Shrimad Bhagavata, from the Creator to the creation, from the Upanishad, this has now been infused into Shrimad Bhagavata. So now all six questions have been answered. 

Skanda 12:8:35 – Now we are going to study about Rshi Markandeya –

te vai bhagavato rūpe

nara-nārāyaṇāv ṛṣī

dṛṣṭvotthāyādareṇoccair

nanāmāṅgena daṇḍa-vat

It is now Suta or Rshi Ugrashava speaking to Raja Shaunaka. Here are some insights into this. 

Shaunaka, on behalf of all the people gathered at this ritual, shares that they have heard about a unique personality named Rshi Markandeya, and that he has seen Pralaya. This section focuses on dissolution. However, if there is Pralaya, then there cannot be Rshi Markandeya, but they had heard that Rshi Markandeya had seen this. So Rshi Shaunaka says that they do not understand and to please explain.

Rshi Ugrashava answers very beautifully – The answer to it lies in the narration, glories and actions of the Lord which destroys the evil effects of the Age of Kali. Sometimes when someone asks a question, they feel really good about themselves, that they are special. Here, Rshi Ugrashava is sharing that the answer is special, not the answerer, because in this we again get to re-remember Bhagavan Krshna and that is how it helps us to be less Kali oriented or selfish. 

Some insights into Rshi Markandeya: He was an awesome icon of Bhakti – dedicated, disciplined. Markandeya was born and brought up receiving all of the purificatory sacraments of the twice born ones (that means samskaras). He learned the Vedas from his father, observing austerity in the rules of Dharma and practicing daily recital of the Vedas. He observed unbroken continence, wore matted locks, tree bark, antelope skin, a girnel of kusha grass and a sacred thread. (In other words he didn’t care how he looked.) He carried a staff, water vessel and a rosary of beads, and for the enhancement of his spiritual merit, worshiped Shri Hari at sunrise and sunset, in fire, the sun, the teacher, holy people and the Self. Everyday, he collected food by alms, offered it to his teacher and ate of it silently when permitted by him, and observed fast when not permitted. (When we go for bhiksha, there are a lot of formalities and it takes a long time. So Vivekji has observed some smart shishyas taking a little food and eating in a corner, but not Rshi Markandeya. If food was not given to him, he just did not eat.) Observing austerities thus and practicing the recital of the Vedas, he worshiped the Lord for an unimaginably vast number of years and was thus able to conquer the unconquerable death. 

If we are looking for the fountain of youth (some say it is in Greece, in that civilization),  here is the fountain of youth, Chapter 8 – Verses 7-11 – For one to feel that they are not born, then they are going to feel that they are not going to die. This was Rshi Markandaya, and then in the verse that was just read to us by Vivekji, who happened to come there? Rshi Nara Narayana. We have already come across them at the beginning of Bhagavata where a list of Avataras were formally stated, Rshi Nara Narayana were a part of this framework. They were incarnation number four.

Vivekji has shared that Shrimad Bhagavata is the best commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Who did Rshi Nara Narayana become in the Mahabharata? Who did Rshi Nara become? Prince Arjuna. Who did Rshi Narayana become? Bhagavan Krshna. Rshi Nara Narayana are Chiranjeevi, which means they are ever present. We should feel that we have access to them. So Rshi Nara Narayana came to Rshi Markandeya and they were so happy that they asked Rshi Markandeya what boon he wanted. 

A couple of insights before we get into this famous visualization with Rshi Markandeya –  While Rshi Markandeya was living his Bhakti oriented life, Indra became insecure because of his Bhakti, thinking he was doing these austerities for Power, when Rshi Markandeya was only doing this for Bhagavan. 

Indra had a whole magazine of weapons, like he could change the weather to become Springtime. And he had sent his General in the army, Kama, who was in the front line, and Kama himself had a whole magazine of weapons. Kama had an arrow that had five heads on it, and we shall call this poison, just like snakes have a neurotoxin or nerve agent. These are the five arrow heads. Kama aimed at him his five pronged arrow having thinning, inflaming, deluding, heating and inebriating as its five heads. Thinning here refers to one’s will-power. We should love these details as we are always being hit by this arrow. And as his whole retinue tried to shake Rshi Markandeya, he was not shaken at all, completely indifferent to all of this. We too should be indifferent to negativity. But when Rshi Nara Narayana came – On seeing the form of the Rshis Nara Narayana, who are the embodiment of the Supreme Lord, Markandeya arose from his seat and with great respect and devotion, made a full prostration laying his body like a stick at their feet. With tears overflowing from the eyes, his vision of the Rshis were blurred. He was crying out of Joy so much that he couldn’t even see Them, so indifferent towards negativity and so intense towards positivity. 

Now we come to the point in the story where Rshi Nara Narayana are happy and they ask Rshi Markandeya what he wants – 

Skanda 12:9:6 –       athāpy ambuja-patrākṣa

puṇya-śloka-śikhāmaṇe

drakṣye māyāṁ yayā lokaḥ

sa-pālo veda sad-bhidām

O lotus-eyed Lord, O crest jewel of renowned personalities, although I am satisfied simply by seeing You, I do wish to see Your illusory potency, by whose influence the entire world, together with its ruling Demigods, considers reality to be materially variegated.

Rshi Markandeya asks for the boon to see Maya. This is what he asks for. No one else has ever asked for such a boon. When Rshi Markandeya asks for this, Rshi Nara Narayana, They go back to their Ashram with a smile on their face because of this unique request. 

Now for all of us, we should remember not to ask this when we see Rshi Nara Narayana. If we have the Bhakti of Rshi Markandeya, then we can ask away. If we do not have that protection, we should not ask. Many Skandas ago, even Bhagavan Shiva got confused by Mohini, and we are Not Bhagavan Shiva. So we should ask how to come out of Maya, and not about Maya. 

Rshi Markandeya continued to live with so much Bhakti, and one day he was sitting on the riverbank, and all of a sudden this riverbank started to grow and grow and grow. It is almost in a sad way what happened in Acapulco where in 12 hours this tropical storm turned into a Category-5 hurricane. So now this river just started to grow, and all of a sudden everything was drowning. Rshi Markandeya started running to find higher ground. It is said that he felt that 1000s of years were going by and he was running until he found some higher ground. And on this higher ground, there was a tree and he just rested near this tree. Then he happened to look up the trunk, to a branch, to a leaf, and who was on that leaf? Bhagavan Krshna. And unlike what we are typically exposed to where Bhagavan Krshna is on the waters of Pralaya, that does not happen in Shrimad Bhagavata, but there are lots of Puranas and it happens in others. Rshi Markandeya was so perturbed that he went to go and hug Bhagavan Krshna and Bhagavan breathed him in. So Bhagavan Krshna as an infant on this tiny leaf, on this branch, on this trunk, just breathed in and Rshi Markandeya was gone! And when he was in the body of Bhagavan Krshna, what did he see? What did Devi Yashoda see in Bhagavan Krshna’s mouth? Everything. Rshi Markandeya saw the creation inside the Creator. And for anyone who studies Advaita Vedanta – the Cause pervades the Effect. The Upanishad comes through the Purana. 

And then he was overwhelmed. First, he was drowning and overwhelmed in a negative way, now he was overwhelmed in wonderment or ashcharya. Next, he was breathed out in that same scene. Then he started going to Bhagavan Krshna with a different sentiment, not for protection, but rather out of gratitude. He went to hug Him again, but Bhagavan disappeared again. But now the whole scene changed, where Rshi Markandeya found himself back in the Ashram. 

What was his boon? He asked to see Maya and Bhagavan granted him that wish in a very experiential 5-D, 10-D way! Finally, he was back in the Ashram, just like for all of us. We are what we are seeking. Now that takes us to Chapter 9 and from Chapter 12 onwards, we will begin a comprehensive and meaningful review of the entire Shrimad Bhagavata. 

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Discussion: How does one intensify their sadhana?

Vivekji’s thoughts: It is to be in the presence of someone who is great because it is then that we realize that we are not tapping into our own potential. In their presence, we are humbled that we are not that good. We then become inspired that they did this to become great, so we also should do what they did to become great. This will intensify our sadhana. 

Last week’s RAW: Dharma + Bhakti = Bhagavan – If we start to love what we do, won’t we automatically start to follow Dharma then? That is the magic of Bhakti, where we start to love what we do, which leads us to love who we are, and Who lives in our heart? Bhagavan! We all have to love what we do more to love who we are more. 

RAW: Research the 5 arrowheads from Chapter 8, Verse 25 and how this applies to us.