Srimad Bhāgavatha
occupies a very unique place in the Hindu religious literature,. Though not as
ancient as the other Hindu religious
texts like Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita or Vedanta Sutra, it is never the
less recognized as a corner stone of Hindu faith. Considered to belong to the
Purāna category of Hindu religious texts, Bhāgavatha has time and again proved
itself to be much more than a mere collection of mythical stories and has in
fact earned the title of Mahā Purāna,
the greatest of all the Purānas.
Central to
Bhāgavatha is the story of SriKrishna in whom it finds the perfection among all
of Vishnu's many incarnations. The image
of SriKrishna of Mahā Bhāratha takes a much more divine and mystical color in
the Bhāgavatha where he is portrayed as God Supreme, performing may miracles
right from birth. The mystical stories of Bhāgavatha, that some time tread on
the edges of logical fallacies and unnatural phenomena, are both a
source of spiritual panacea for the faithful and cause for disillusionment for
the skeptic
Bhāgavatha is not
merely a Bhakti text. There are many instances of Vedānta and Advaita
thoughts expressed and professed in it, from beginning to
end. In fact, the very starting sentence of Bhāgavatha and the second sutra of
Vedanta Sutras are exactly same ("janmādyasya
yathah" ). Also, Bhāgavatha's intended purpose is stated as "let the ultimate truth shine in the
intellect" (satyam param dhimahi).
Those who subscribe to the Vedanta philosophy prefer to be rational in their
thought process and not engage in promoting blind faith in any God
personality, especially evangelizing a faith that is founded on miracles. Given that the
Bhāgavatha text was written by a Rishi
who was well established in Vedānta, what exactly are we to make of the many
miracles described in it? Are these strictly a narrative for the faithful or is
there something more to them than what meets the eye? Let's examine to see if there are, in fact, any deeper meaning attached to them.
Life stories of
SriKrishna are so popular that I will not make an attempt to recount them here
in detail. One of the purposes of his birth is supposed to be for lightening
the burden born by Mother Earth as the human population increased and evil
nature spread. SriKrishna is supposed to have caused both the great war of Mahā
Bhāratha as well as the Yādava clan civil war, for accomplishing this purpose
of 'lightening the load' on Earth . Not a pleasant mission for a merciful God to cause
such misery! But, think of this in another perspective. There are so many of us
in this world who go around with heavy hearts. What if the very purpose of SriKrishna's life was to show us a way to eliminate the
heaviness in our heart so that both we and Mother Earth could get a relief?
Born in a prison in
the city of Mathura to Vasudeva and Devaki, SriKrishna was surreptitiously
moved to the custody of Nandagopa and Yasoda, to evade the wrath of King Kamsa
who was awaiting to kill him at birth. SriKrishna grows up in the Gokula (literally, the house of cows) under
the loving care of many Gopas and Gopikas. He faces many attacks from the demons
dispatched by Kamsa and manages to overcome them all. In the infant days of
SriKrishna, the first demon to attack him was the demoness Putana, who
approached deceptively as a beautiful maiden and tried to poison him. The next was the Asura Thrinavartha who came
in as a dust storm and tried to carry SriKrishna away. The third was
Chakatāsura who disguised himself as a cart and offered shade but with the
intent of crushing SriKrishna under the wheels. In addition SriKrishna had a
close call when two slender, tall trees who were actually the cursed Gandharvas
Nala and Kubara, fell over close to him while he tried to crawl between
them, dragging along a wooden mortar he was tied to. Needless to say, the
infant SriKrishna managed to vanquish all the three demons and released Nala
and Kubara from their curse.
Let us
look at some of the possible symbolism that are used in the above stories of
Bhāgavatha. First of all, why was SriKrishna growing up at the Gokula? The cow
(gava) is considered sacred in Hindu
mythology because the Sānskrit word gava
also means the Veda mantra. Just as the cows that are of many color yield the
same white milk, the meaning yielded by all the Veda mantra are the one and
same truth. Churning this truth in one's mind, we are expected to recover their
essence like butter out of butter milk and internalize that essence. Therefore, the image of SriKrishna as the
cowherd (Gopala) who relishes on butter
('maakhan khaayore') is indicative of
his spiritual evolution. We could imagine that what is being conveyed in the
stories of SriKrishna's life in Gokula are in fact his initiation into
spirituality.
According to Yoga
Sutra of Patanjali, there are five klesa
(obstacles) that are in the way of one embarking on spiritual journey. They are
Avidya (ignorance), Asmita (ego), Rāga
(attachment), Dvesha (aversion) and Abhinivesa (clinging to life). One can embark
and stay on the spiritual journey only by overcoming these obstacles. Now let
us look at each of these in detail.
Avidya - Though translated as 'ignorance', the exact meaning of this word
is 'defective knowledge'. In Avidya,
there is not only a lack of true knowledge but also the presence of a mistaken
understanding about truth. It is what we might call as a double whammy! What
better way to present this complex concept than the image of a demoness who
with the intent of poisoning the baby, comes disguised as a damsel and
offers to nurse the innocent child. Avidya is
not overcome by running away from it but rather confronting it and sucking the
life out of it, which is exactly what SriKrishna does with Putana,
Asmita - Again, the translation is 'ego' but
the intended meaning is 'self-identity'. We all have not just one but many
different 'self-identities' like son, father, brother, citizen, patriot - you
name it. These many self-identities are swirling around us is like a dust storm and sweeps us off our feet. making us forget our true nature. In the story
we are given the image of Thrinavartha who comes as a dust storm and carries
away the infant SriKrishna. How does one escape from such a storm? Only by
remaining in our own true self, as SriKrishna does by becoming heavier and
heavier, making it impossible for the Asura to carry him anymore
Rāga and Dvesha - Attachment and aversion are
two sides of the same coin or in other words, they are like twins. They are both born from
possessiveness just as the brothers Nala and Kubara who were the twins born to the Lord of wealth, Kubera. There is practically no way to live in this
world without having the feelings of attachment and aversion. However, what
needs to be overcome is our entrapment in them. Just as SriKrishna who is bound to a wooden mortar is
entrapped between the two slender trees who were Nala and Kubara, released himself as well as them, we also
have to seek a liberation from Rāga and Dvesha,
not by eliminating them completely but freeing ourselves from their
affect and entrapment.
Abhinivesa - The
tendency to cling to life is wired into
every living soul. As Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutra, even the best realized
souls fail to free themselves from this tendency. While clinging to life is our unavoidable reflexive
behavior, what we could consciously do is to catch ourselves as we vainly try
to find sense of security in things like relationships, wealth, power etc.
In the story, we see an infant SriKrishna being placed in the shade of a parked
cart which actually was the Chakatāsura in disguise. SriKrishna knocks down the
cart and it breaks into pieces, saving himself from being run over by the cart.
Where does
SriKrishna's life journey continue from here and what other messages does it have for
us? We will see more the next time
