ViBha Class Notes: December 12, 2021
The word Bhagavan is made up of Bhaga Van, the One who has all virtues in all ways. Technically, Bhagavan means the One with six distinct virtues. One of them is yashah or the one who is revered. A synonym for Bhagavan is Ishwara. And Ishwara has five technical distinctions. The five verbs or expressions of Ishwara are:
- Creator
- Controller
- Consumer
We typically know this as the Generator, Operator and Destroyer or Bhagavan Brahma, Bhagavan Vishnu and Bhagavan Shiva
4. Conserver — the One who expresses Anugraha, who protects those who are noble)
5. Corrector — the One who expresses Nigraha, who corrects those who are ignoble
Those who approach Bhagavata or Sanatana Dharma without Vedanta, this philosophy, this vision, they think God is always engaged in Maarana, but what God does is Taarana or blesses one to the beyond. We often read that the devil is in the details, but it is Divinity in the details. When we know that Bhagavan/Ishwara is there for taarana, not for maarana, don’t we love Bhagavan more? Love in Sanskrit is called Bhakti. When we love any entity more than Bhagavan, that is called Sneha. When we love Bhagavan more than any other entity, then that is called Prema. Our course is a catalyst to maturation, to grow up from Sneha to Prema. And all of this is facilitated by Vedanta. Let us pause and think about what Vedanta has done for us, done to us!
What did we know about Jarasandha before Bhagavata? Hardly anything. When this infant was born, a step mother of his who was jealous of his mother, killed this infant by tearing him apart and throwing him away. A rakshasi called Jara, she joined (sandha) the two halves of this infant and put him together. So he came to be known as Jarasandha. And since he had already died and came back, he became extremely powerful. So when Bhima was fighting him, Bhima was tiring out. He was losing. Who knew about Jarasandha? Bhagavan Krshna and he shared this knowledge just with a blade of grass. And all of a sudden Bhima’s fatigue and losing ended. Such is the power of knowledge.
Much of Bhagavata revolves around two personalities, Jaya and Vijaya. Jaya is subjectively calmness of body or dama, and Vijaya subjectively is quietude of mind or shama. Dama and Shama are to help us to become more humble. However, in Bhagavata, these two personalities became more arrogant and so they were cursed, but really blessed to nurture this humility. Jaya became Hiranyakashupu, then Ravana then Shishupala. Vijaya became Hiranyaksha, then Kumbhakarna and then Dantavaktra.
Shishupala’s mother was given a boon that he could commit one hundred offenses against Bhagavan Krshna openly, but any more than that, he would be corrected — Nigraha. With the one hundred and first offense, Bhagavan corrected him and it felt like a comet or meteor falling to earth. And that jyoti that was inside of Shishupala merged with Bhagavan Krshna. So did Bhagavan Krshna engage in maarana or taarana? Taarana, and we are not Shishupala, so our fate is much more assured. What was unique about Shishupala was the intensity with which he hated Bhagavan Krshna and in terms of self development, that intensity is Nidhidhyasana — to constantly contact. Who was Shishupala always thinking and talking about? Bhagavan Krshna, and his actions were also directed towards Him. Nidhidhyasana is the final sadhana before Moksha. Such are the layers of Bhagavata, and we can see how Bhagavata is much more than a katha.
Now let us look at Duryodhana. Vivekji shared that Duryodhana has the spirit of Kali. Kali means selfishness. Duryodhana’s fabric was that of selfishness, which is why his name means one who is difficult to fight. Who is most difficult to fight? It is our ego. The ego incubates selfishness and this naturally expresses as jealousy. Duryodhana is selfish and egotistical, but we come to know him mostly as being jealous. And that is why when Bhima and others were laughing at him, he became angry and left that celebration. Those who don’t laugh at themselves, the world laughs at them. But those who laugh at themselves, the world laughs with them. Jealousy is like a matchstick. If we light a match, what burns first is that matchstick. If we are jealous, then we burn first, then we put that fire on others. That completes Chapter 75.
Chapter 76 — After Shishupala was corrected, he had a friend named Shalva who hated Bhagavan Krshna as much as Shishupala. Such is the power of Dussanga! When we complain about someone, others, without knowing them, may start complaining about them as well. And Shalva, upon the death of Shishupala, wanted to exact revenge on Bhagavan Krshna. So he engaged in tapa towards Bhagavan Shiva. He would only eat a morsel of sand everyday and focus on Bhagavan Shiva. Another name for Bhagavan Shiva is Ashutosha — One who is easily pleased. So Bhagavan Shiva came to Shalva and asked him what he wanted. So Shalva asked for a weapon to fight Bhagavan Krshna and His family, and specifically that this weapon should be malleable. So Bhagavan Shiva blessed Shalva with Saubha which was a chariot that could go on water, on land, in air. It was a shady chariot, invisible and had dark powers. With this, Shalva in Soubha started to attack Dwaraka, destroying the outer parts of the city and getting into the city. Bhagavan Krshna is in Indraprastha with the Kauravas and Pandavas at this time. And Shalva took this opportunity to attack Dwaraka, but Pradhyumna, Bhagavan Krshna’s son, is protecting Dwaraka.
Vedanta: Hatred is endless. This scheme of hatred goes from Paundraka to Shishupala to Shalva, soon to Dantavaktra. What we can do if we are feeling hatred is to shift from the symptoms to the solution. For example, if we hate someone or something, we keep focusing on the symptoms or the weaknesses of that person or this thing. How come they didn’t do this or did this…, but the solution is to find ways to like, if not love. So we should focus on the strengths of another person, or of another article or circumstance. Applying to our situation, why be consumed with hatred for the CoronaVirus when it has only brought our community together, helping us help society?
Chapter 77 — Shalva and Pradhyumna are fighting and this fight is in its twenty-seventh day and Bhagavan Krshna senses that a matter is happening in Dwarka. So He and Shri Balarama leave Indraprastha and go to Dwaraka only to see such destruction. So Bhagavan Krshna tells Shri Balarama to go into Dwarka to protect it, while He goes to correct Shalva. There are many details about Bhagavan Krshna’s weapons. Bhagavan Krshna’s charioteer’s name is Daruka, His flag is of Garuda and His bow is called Sharanga. Bhagavan Krshna is engaging Shalva who is most shady. Shalva manifests through magic this hologram of Bhagavan Krshna’s mother being in this battlefield and Devi Devaki is crying. Then this hologram goes away and another comes where her husband Vasudeva, Shri Krshna’s father, is tied up and then his head is cut off. So these holograms start to appear and Bhagavan Krshna, for a moment, gives into His emotion and then catches Himself and He finally defeats Shalva. Then Dantavaktra comes to fight Bhagavan Krshna and that’s how this chapter ends.
There is additional commentary on Bhagavan Krshna’s momentary emotion which contradicts some of these Rishis who don’t realize that it goes against what they themselves have said earlier. They have described Bhagavan Krshna as Achyuta or the One who never falls, and now are describing Him to be giving in to His emotions. How can there be infatuation or other forms of weakness of the Supreme one or the final goal of all wise men? These Rishis regained themselves just like Bhagavan Krshna does. This is being shared to emphasize that Bhagavan Krshna is engaged in a leela. We too give in to our emotions, but we don’t get out of them. Bhagavan Krshna and the Rishis came out of that emotion. A practical way to get out of our emotions is to be more objective.
10:78:10 — Rishi Shuka is narrating to Raja Parikshita. Dantavaktra now enters this fight and there is this whole parampara of hate. Dantavaktra is Kumbhakarana in his previous birth, so he is this huge being stomping around trying to fight Bhagavan Krshna. After Bhagavan Krshna defeats Dantavaktra, from his innermost self this light enters Bhagavan Krshna while everyone is watching, just like what happened with Shishupala. Even the worst person can be saved by knowledge and we are not the worst person. We are not Shishupala, we are not Dantavaktra. So let us be hopeful and plan to be enlightened in this lifetime.
10:78:28 — Shri Balarama is on a yatra. Instead of being intensely disciplined, he reacts, takes a blade of grass and shoots this at a Rishi, killing him.
Leading to this: Preparations for the Mahabharata war are being made by Duryodhana and the Pandavas. Duryodhana was a student of Shri Balarama. He was not as strong as Bhima, but was more skilled than Bhima as he learned from Shri Balarama. So when this yuddha is about to happen, Shri Balarama feels for both and says he is neutral and will not participate in the war. He goes away on a yatra instead. On his journey, he finds his way to Naimisharanya, and Shri Balarama is greeted by Rishi Shaunaka and others. The only one who does not greet Shri Balarama is Rishi Romaharshana. All get up and fold their hands, except Rishi Romaharshana. When Shri Balarama sees this, he reacts, shoots this blade of grass and kills him. Part of the reason he reacted in this way is that Rishi Romaharshana is a disciple of Rishi Veda Vyasa. So his point is that Rishi Romaharshana should know better than not to get up when he arrives. Now upon his death, Rishi Shaunaka and others are feeling very sad. They come to Shri Balarama and share that Rishi Romaharshana was teaching them and to show how not to be distracted, so he did not get up. So Rishi Romaharshana was engaged in his responsibility and the Rishis had promised him the protection of his health. Shri Balarama had offended him and their protection as well. They tell him, “We know who you are Shri Balarama, that you are here to support Bhagavan Krshna. At the same time, you are to lead yourself and others. So you should engage in prayaschita karma, or atone for what you did”.
And Shri Balarama says to the Rishis –
- I shall do expiation for the slaughter. Please lay down the most stringent penance I should undergo. — So he asks the Rishis to help him lead himself to lead others.
- While the Rishis are discussing this — Besides, by my yogamaya, I shall revive this suta, grant him long life, powers of mind and senses and whatever else he wants. Essentially Rishi Romaharshana was your teacher, but I shall revive him through his child, Rishi Ugrashava.
Rishi Ugrashava is the one who is interacting with Rishi Shaunaka, who is remembering Raja Parikshita and Rishi Shuka. Let us see the layers again and these incredible connections. Divinity is in the details.
Discussion: When we do something wrong, what is the best prayaschita karma so that we do not engage in that wrongness again?
Vivekji’s observation: What Vivekji tries to do is feel that what he did wrong, everyone knows about it. The ego does not want to be humiliated. So we will be more careful next time to not repeat it when we know everyone will know about what we thought, or said or did as we don’t want to be humiliated. Feel that your Guide is always watching you.