ViBha Class Notes: October 3, 2021

Avidya means forgetfulness. This is not a worldly forgetfulness, as forgetting someone’s name or an appointment, but this is forgetting who one is. What this feels like is –

• First, Abhavana — which means we don’t know how to be happy. 
• This devolves to Asambhavana — implying that even if we are exposed to the idea that we are Happiness, we don’t feel that we can be happy.

So at first we don’t know how to be happy and then the feeling that we don’t know that we can be happy. It is deepening in terms of devolving.

• Then the third is Vipareeta Bhavana — which means we feel we are unhappiness.

Vivekji would like us to reflect on what we are doing in preparation for Navaratri. Are we just engaged in decorating our altar or our home? More important than doing for Navaratri is Becoming for Navaratri. One of the associations with Navaratri or Vijayadashami is when Ravana is defeated, and upon his destruction, what manifests is Light — and that Light merges with Shri Rama. Another association with Navaratri and Vijayadashami is when all of those Kanyas were abandoned and captured by Naraka Asura. They were all freed and they all had a Vivaha with Shri Krshna. Feel the change from darkness to Light for them.

Navaratri is about becoming. It is shifting from awareness of, to Awareness. At a deep level, we are consumed by awareness of politics, of the weather, that our feet are itchy or thinking of things to do later. But we should try to Become, not be aware of, but be Awareness. That would be Vijaya Dashami. The way to Become for Navaratri is through Shravana, Manana and Nidhidhyasana. Listening counters Abhavana; Reflecting counters Ashambhavana and Contemplating counters Vipareeta Bhavana. Vivekji is encouraging us all to be more authentic and deep with our Utsavas. We have a habit of externalising these celebrations, and if we do, then it is not Navaratri, but Nityaratri, perpetual darkness, not a darkness outside, but a darkness to being happy. A lovely way we are all celebrating Navaratri is through Shri Krshna’s Vivahas. His vivahas are more important than ours.

Recapping the Vivahas –

1. With Devi Rukmini — Shri Krshna went and captivated her as she was leaving the mandir.
2. With Devi Jambavati — when the Syamantaka jewel and Jamabavan’s daughter were given to Shri Krshna.
3. With Devi Satyabhama — Her father felt bad that he had questioned or doubted Shri Krshna.
4. With Devi Kalindi — Shri Krshna and Prince Arjuna were in the jungle and saw a Devi near the Yamuna and she shared that she was Yamuna and was waiting for Bhagavan Vishnu.
5. With Devi Mitravinda — Her family did not want her to be with Shri Krshna as they were associated with Duryodhana, but she wanted to be with Shri Krshna.
6. With Devi Nagnajiti — Her father Nagnajit, who was the King of Ayodhya, was most happy that his daughter was going to be with Shri Krshna.

Skanda 10:58:56 — Shri Krshna’s seventh wife was Devi Badra who was from Kaikeya.

Skanda 10:58:57 — Shri Krshna’s eighth vivaha happened in Madras to Devi Lakshmana where Shri Krshna had to captivate Devi Lakshmana and had to take her from the Svayamvara.

Shri Krshna Chandra Bhagavan Ki Jai! Shri Krshna Chandra Bhagavan Ki Jai!

Next we will cover the next 16,000 vivaha’s of Shri Krshna. These are highly vedantic.

Skanda 10:59:21 — Rishi Shuka is sharing with Raja Pareekshita that Naraka Asura was trying to destroy Shri Krshna. Shri Krshna blocked him every time, and finally He used His Chakra and was able to defeat Naraka, but this is what happened to lead up to this.

Bhoomi Devi, Mother Earth, had a son called Bhauma. He was also known as Naraka or the one who is experiencing hell, and whatever is inside is going to come outside. So her child Bhauma, was really Naraka. He was mentally tortured and went about torturing others, specifically Indra. He was the son of the Earth, so he felt that power and started flaunting that power. So he challenged Indra and was able to defeat him and take a lot from Heaven. Indra naturally went to Shri Krshna looking for help, and Shri Krshna who was most gracious, did help.

Shrimad Bhagavata is an educational text. Visualize, feel and appreciate this creative section of Shri Krshna’s fight with Naraka –”Krishna shattered the external fortification of mountains by His mace, of weapons by His arrows, of water, fire and air by His discus, and of cords by His sword. He, the skillful wielder of the mace, shattered the mechanical devices of war and the courage and hearts of the warriors by blowing off His conch, and the bastions of the city by His powerful mace. Hearing the frightening sound of the Panchajanya resembling the thunder on the eve of cosmic dissolution, Mura, the demon with five heads who was sleeping under water, got roused up. This Asura who was brilliant like the sun and like the fire of doomsday, who was fierce in nature and in radiance and who none could look at, came rushing at Krshna like a five hooded serpent at Garuda, with his three pronged trident upraised in his arm, as if about to swallow the three worlds with his five mouths. Whirling his trident, he threw it at Garuda and then from his five mouths he sent forth terrific howls, filling the earth, sky and all the quarters, and enveloping the cosmic shell. Krshna, who is none but Lord Hari, cut that trident coming against Garuda into three with a pair of arrows and hit the Asura in his face with more arrows. Roused to anger, the Asura hurled his mace at Krshna. The lord cut into a hundred shreds, the mace that was speeding towards Him. The Asura then rushed at Him with uplifted hands only to have his head severed by the Lord’s discus with utmost ease as in play”.

Shri Krshna defeated Mura and so one of Shri Krshna’s names is Murari. The way to understand the word Murari is — Mura’s enemy, which is the narrative from Mura’s perspective. The narrative from Shri Krshna’s perspective is that Shri Krshna is not an enemy to anyone. He is everyone. So the implication for us is that we do not have external enemies. It is our internal enemies that make us feel like we have external enemies. This is one of the most consistent messages of Vedanta — is to internalise. To be responsible for what we are experiencing and who we are.

With Mura defeated, Shri Krshna has to now fight Bhauma who is terrorizing earth and heaven. “Soon did the Lord, the elder brother of Gada, cut off the heads and limbs of all the soldiers, and all the horses and elephants, constituting the army with his arrows winged with plumes of various colors”. Visualise Bhagavan Krshna with the arrows and it almost seems like this war is beautiful. Shri Krshna’s elder brother is also known as Gada, which means mace. In time, we will study distinct personalities who are experts in using the mace. One of them being Shri Balarama which is why he is called mace.

Vedanta: What is shown between the relationship of Bhoomi and Bhauma, is the power of Vasanas, that the earth is amazing, yet one what/who came from the earth is terrible. We can be born in the most ideal context, great family and great community, but still we can be vicious people. That could be our content. So the implication of this teaching is how we should be powerful with our Dharma as our vasanas are dictating our Dharma. For example, if our vasanas are no good, then we should be much better with our Dharma to be able to change our vasanas.

When Bhauma Asura is destroyed, his mother Bhoomi (Bhuhu) comes and is praising Shri Krshna and says to Him:

• You, when expressing as Rajas, are the Creator
• You, when expressing as Sattva, are the Preserver
• You, when expressing as Tamas, are the Destroyer

These are Gunas. Where do Gunas come from? They come from Maya. Maya expresses as the Gunas. So as we go about our experiences — the world is created, the world is preserved, the world is destroyed — what is the world really? It is just Maya. The implication is that we should cry less and smile more, that it is all relative and we should not have an absolute relationship with the relative. And as long as we do, we will not have an absolute relationship with the Absolute.

Another Vedantic insight — Infinity expresses as Narayana. Narayana’s popular Devi is Lakshmi. What does Lakshmi Devi symbolize for us? Virtues like patience, compassion, etc. Bhagavan Narayana’s, as if, second Devi is Bhoomi or Earth where we can feel that — how kind, giving, patient and forgiving the earth is to us. We all know virtues, but who practices values to become virtues? So that is why this praise from Bhoodevi to Shri Krshna has a lot of meaning for us — to go back to Bhagavan Narayana. How? See the Earth. How? — Convert values to virtues. And this becomes more clear in our next verse, with Mura and Bhauma defeated.

Skanda 10:59:42 — Then on an auspicious day, Shri Krshna manifested for every one of the devis that was freed. And He manifested an individual home for each of these devis. And with the right rites, Bhagavan lived with them cheerfully.

The build up to this — Bhauma or Naraka had a sankalpa to marry one hundred thousand devis. He went around different dimensions capturing devis. Those who are distracted, they are like Narakasura. They are unable to understand oneness and so they keep on living in these one hundred thousand directions. All that he was able to capture were sixteen thousand. Each of these kanyas were held in prison by Bhauma and when Shri Krshna entered into this kingdom, every one of these kanyas felt Shri Krshna in their heart and offered their hearts to Him. These devis are all mumukshus, like the Gopis. They all want absolute freedom or Moksha.

Vedanta: In Bhagavad Gita, Vivekji highlighted Abhyasooya — to find weaknesses in strengths. Many, when they come across this portion of Bhagavata, they apply to Shri Krshna that He is lusty, that He is the same as Bhauma as He has even more devis than Naraka. What would be the fate of these devis if Shri Krshna didn’t free them? Society would abandon them. They would almost be like prisoners of war…forgotten.

If we go back to Ramayana where Bhagavan Rama asks Devi Sita to leave, He did this to protect her. He loved her more than she loved Him. Here too, Shri Krshna marries all of these devis to protect and save them. One cannot assign lust to these relationships. Upon saving them, Shri Krshna had everyone of these devis dressed up, put on individual palanquins (palakis) and they were sent to Dwaraka.

Shri Kshna then went to Indraloka to help Indra re-establish his kingdom, and He went there with Satyabhama. When Satyabhama found the Parijata tree — a beautiful tree from which you can get whatever you want — Shri Krshna took the Parijata tree from Indra and returned back to Dwaraka, but then Indra fought with Shri Krshna.

Vedanta: “Prostrating himself before and touching His feet with the top of his crowned head” — when Indra wanted something, he was at Shri Krshna’s feet. “Yet after the achievements of his purposes, he goes to fight with that Krshna. Fie on the stupidity of the Devas. Fie on wealth that begets such stupidity.” Anyone who gives more importance to valuables than values is like Indra, and trying to live in Swarga.

Many may be wondering why we are moving so slowly through all these sixteen thousand eight vivahas. It is because Vivekji consciously read through all these vivahas and he consciously read to us the word Upayeme. Upayeme means the right rite or Upaya or way, that Shri Krshna engaged in these vivahas in the right way. Another synonym for Upaya is Upadesa. Shri Krshna’s relationship with these devi’s was not external, but it was an internal relationship. Adding more clarity — Shri Krshna, when He was married to these sixteen thousand devis, He did this with a muhurta. We think of muhurta as an auspicious day, but muhurta is any good day. What is a good day? Any day that we have the intention to evolve. That is a muhurta. So when is a muhurta? It is in our control.

Shri Krshna created sixteen thousand homes for these devis, and engaged in these samskaras with all sixteen thousand devis where every one of them felt that there was only Shri Krshna. In Bhagavata, it is shared that all sixteen thousand devis are expressions of Rama, Devi Lakshmi, and She is an expression of Rama or Joy. When Shri Krshna was living with all of these devis, He engaged in Dharma. He was each one’s husband, each one’s father as each of these devi’s had 10 kids, so Sri Krshna had a lot of kids. But He never forgot that He was Brahma or Joy. So we too should never forget our Dharma as our Dharma is going to lead us to Brahma, Joy. Each of these devis had hundred dasis, but each of these dasis felt they were the dasi of Shri Krshna and they offered puja to Him everyday. This is implying for us that these vivahas are a mumukshu coming together with Moksha.

Leading up to Deepawali, we celebrate Naraka Chaturdashi before Lakshmi Puja. That is when Ignorance is let go off and the next day is Lakshmi puja where we experience the Light. That is where mumukshutvam ends because there is Moksha.

We should all feel like we are getting married to Shri Krshna. All these Chapters are for us to feel that we are getting married to Shri Krshna.

Discussion: How can we identify with our body less? What can we do or should we do?

Vivekji shared that as long as we identify with the body too strongly, we will externalise these Chapters and think it is about a vivaha, and not about Moksha. We don’t have five koshas, but six, since our sixth is our lifestyle. We cannot get to lessening our identification with our fifth kosha, which is the body, if we are stuck in the sixth kosha. So to internalize this, we have to deal with our sixth kosha. That is why we should let go of Shri Krshna or these devis having a gender.