Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Story 27 - Story of Daksha Prajaapathi - Introduction
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 27 - Story of Daksha Prajaapathi - Introduction
Explanation
Now we will start with the story of Daksha Prajaapathi who is very famous as the father-in-law of Lord Siva who married his daughter Sati.
This story is well known to all hindus who would have learnt the story or heard it from their grand parents or parents when they were young. This story has lot of imports in it – and if a person really analyzes this story from a critical view point, he gets lot of ideas from it.
We normally have personal Gods who have various forms. Like a person might be having Krishna as his ishta devata or yet another person might be having Siva as his ishta devata. Yet another person might be having Ganapathi as the ishta devata. All these Gods and Goddesses are meant for getting concentration and contemplation. These forms are as unreal as the body and the objects in the world. Any form whether it be that of Lord Siva or that of Bill Gates or that of a beggar is prone to change, decay and thereby death. Such a changing and temporary form God cannot be the ultimate reality of Brahman which is changeless and eternal. Thus the Upanishads as well as Lord Krishna in the Gita again and again say that the ultimate reality of Brahman or God (as we generally call) is beyond all limitations – he doesn’t have any form as any form would limit the unlimited.
Thus the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness or Self or God is without any particular form as it is all-pervading and unlimited. But contemplation on that reality which is present everywhere is not very easy for an initial seeker. Thus the various forms are mentioned so that the seeker can initially concentrate. Once he gains concentration, he sees that form everywhere. When thus he sees the same form everywhere, slowly he realizes that the form was only an illusion and in reality the ultimate reality of God is without any form. Thus he realizes that Vishnu is not a form with four-hands etc. but Vishnu is the all-pervading reality behind the illusory world (Vishnu means vyaapanasheelam – that which is present everywhere – thus says Sankara in his Vishnu Sahasranaam Bhashya). Thus from the form, a seeker goes to the formless, all-pervasive reality of God. This is what we normally call as meditation and absorption (dhyaana and Samaadhi).
But if a seeker refuses to proceed further and thereby stays contended at the form level. As if this was not enough, he starts criticizing and abusing other form Gods. Thus we have the very famous Vishnu-Siva battle going on even to this day. A person who is still at the form level will think his form to be greater than other forms and thus “Vishnu is greater than Siva” and “Siva is greater than Vishnu” such useless and baseless thoughts are developed. These thoughts are not only developed but other people are also initiated into these thoughts by the so-called society spiritual people.
Scriptures never say any grudge between any of the Gods. There very aim is to harmonize all these gods and make the seeker reach that stage where there is only one reality which is formless and beyond all limitations.
Thus Rig Veda says
“Ekam sad vipraa bahudaa vadanthi” – One Reality people speak in different words or ways.
Those who claim that Upanishads and Gita propound that Vishnu is Supreme and Siva is not Supreme should refer to what Sri Krishna tells about FORM and HIMSELF. Also they should refer to the place where Krishna says that “he is Rudra”.
Thus these people who have lost their discriminative capability go on fighting in the name of form. What will be the future for such people? Nothing but destruction and destruction alone.
Thus a seeker should not get into these fights but instead should go beyond all limitations and keep in mind that the reality cannot be contained in a form even as space cannot be contained in a pot or room. When this reality is kept in mind, the seeker respects all forms and contemplates on a single form. Thus he goes beyond the form and realizes the ultimate reality of Lord who is his own very nature itself.
A seeker might be surprised to find out that ego problems and such fights like “who is greater” used to happen in puranic times also. There are many epics and stories to show this. All such stories are meant to degrade the various Devatas but to show the seeker that the reality is beyond all limitations and therefore a person who really wants to realize the reality should not enter into such futile paths or ways. In the Daksha story, we find that the very family and life of Siva was in havoc!!! (Please remember here that no devata is degraded over here but what is really happening in the world is being put forth through this stories – and to show that any form God cannot really help the seeker other than gaining concentration which is due to the seeker’s own effort only). Siva married Sati and Daksha didn’t like it. Thus started ego clash. When Daksha went to a place where all devatas were there, Siva did not mind him or give respect to him. Thus was aroused the Ego in Daksha. Thus Daksha wanted to take revenge on Siva. Thus he conducted a Yajnaa and didn’t give a part of the partaking to Lord Siva (which was Siva’s right – each devaatas get a part of whatever is being offering in the yajnaa). Sati couldn’t bear her husband to be insulted. Here we find “attachment” clinging into Sati. Along with this attachment to Siva, passion towards her parents too was aroused. Thus she wanted to go to that yagaa (even though not invited) and advice his father for the same. Siva refused to give permission to her to go there. Sati couldn’t stop herself from going there. She disobeyed Siva and went there. Thus here Siva gives a clear warning to Sati as to not to go and get humiliated. But passion blinded Sati’s eyes and therefore she could not stop going there. She thus went there and Daksha humiliated her with words. Sati was completely sad and her passion was shattered into pieces because Daksha didn’t even consider her as her daughter. Thus Sati repented for her mistake and thought about Siva’s words. She then cursed that the yaaga may not be completed properly. And then she entered into the homa kunda. Thus Sati was killed because of her fathers egoistic attitude and due to her own passion. Siva was terrified with this, he sent Nandi and his bhoota ganaas and they killed Daksha and destroyed the yaagaa completely. Thus, Siva himself was unable to control his anger.
Thus the entire family of Siva was destroyed by mutual fighting & only Siva remained behind.
Yes, the followers of Siva might say here that “it was his divine play!!!” This is foolishness. If Siva knew everything, why did he have such play? What was the purpose of such a play? If he was the controller of the play, couldn’t he have avoided such havoc?
There will be no real answers to the above questions. Thus those who worship such a God whose family itself is fighting amongst each other (worshipping without the knowledge that everything is Lord alone), what will be effect of such worship? The same thing will happen in the family of the worshipper. Isn’t this what we are seeing today? A person goes to Siva temple daily morning. After coming from the temple, start fighting with wife, call bad words, do bad things etc. Is this what is really required by going to the temple? No, it isn’t.
The above analysis is not meant to say that worshippers of Siva will have fights in the family but to show that without knowing the ultimate reality of God who is present everywhere, a person will never get eternal bliss & peace in the world – not at any moment of time even if he worships Siva, Vishnu or all the 33 crore devatas.
Thus what is important is to remember the ultimate reality of God present everywhere & being one’s own very nature, we have to worship one’s own ishta devata. Now, let us try to really analyze the above story and the import of it to be implemented in daily life. First thing is that whenever there is Ego, there is surely destruction alone in that place as seen in Daksha’s case. Ego creates likes and dislikes which in turn causes anger, aversion, attachment etc. which will not lead the seeker anywhere except fighting amongst each and killing – thereby getting immersed more and more into the ocean of samsaara. A seeker should thus always keep his Ego under control. A seeker should also keep passions, attachment and all under control. They should never control the seeker. This is easily achieved when a person remembers the reality and is thus not attached to anything in the world as the world itself is the Lord alone & thus there is only Lord to whom he is attached. This Lord is not different from himself & hence there is no real attachment at all. Instead if a seeker is overcome by passion, there will be destruction as happened in the case of Sati. If Sati had heeded Siva’s advice, she would not have died. Also a seeker should never let anger overpower him – else his own destruction and sorrow will ensue as happened in the case of Siva.
The above are the main imports to be learned from the story of Daksha. We have to remember here that there is no world at all to have such destruction and all. Siva is a perfect Brahmajnaani as mentioned in Upanishads. Thus he was not really affected by the activities – but he behaved as if affected, he was just doing his role in the drama of the waking world. Unless this reality that there is nothing is known, whether it is Vishnu or Siva or any other person – that person will be affected by the activities in the illusory world. But when a person realizes the real Siva (auspicious Self), then he goes beyond all limitations and thereby realizes the ultimate reality of God and rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in God.
We will see the story in detail in the coming days where we will be seeing as to how does a person really fall a prey to Maya, the illusory power of God and thereby lose all distinctions and become like four-legged creatures (as Sankara says in Maya Panchakam).
Explanation
Now we will start with the story of Daksha Prajaapathi who is very famous as the father-in-law of Lord Siva who married his daughter Sati.
This story is well known to all hindus who would have learnt the story or heard it from their grand parents or parents when they were young. This story has lot of imports in it – and if a person really analyzes this story from a critical view point, he gets lot of ideas from it.
We normally have personal Gods who have various forms. Like a person might be having Krishna as his ishta devata or yet another person might be having Siva as his ishta devata. Yet another person might be having Ganapathi as the ishta devata. All these Gods and Goddesses are meant for getting concentration and contemplation. These forms are as unreal as the body and the objects in the world. Any form whether it be that of Lord Siva or that of Bill Gates or that of a beggar is prone to change, decay and thereby death. Such a changing and temporary form God cannot be the ultimate reality of Brahman which is changeless and eternal. Thus the Upanishads as well as Lord Krishna in the Gita again and again say that the ultimate reality of Brahman or God (as we generally call) is beyond all limitations – he doesn’t have any form as any form would limit the unlimited.
Thus the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness or Self or God is without any particular form as it is all-pervading and unlimited. But contemplation on that reality which is present everywhere is not very easy for an initial seeker. Thus the various forms are mentioned so that the seeker can initially concentrate. Once he gains concentration, he sees that form everywhere. When thus he sees the same form everywhere, slowly he realizes that the form was only an illusion and in reality the ultimate reality of God is without any form. Thus he realizes that Vishnu is not a form with four-hands etc. but Vishnu is the all-pervading reality behind the illusory world (Vishnu means vyaapanasheelam – that which is present everywhere – thus says Sankara in his Vishnu Sahasranaam Bhashya). Thus from the form, a seeker goes to the formless, all-pervasive reality of God. This is what we normally call as meditation and absorption (dhyaana and Samaadhi).
But if a seeker refuses to proceed further and thereby stays contended at the form level. As if this was not enough, he starts criticizing and abusing other form Gods. Thus we have the very famous Vishnu-Siva battle going on even to this day. A person who is still at the form level will think his form to be greater than other forms and thus “Vishnu is greater than Siva” and “Siva is greater than Vishnu” such useless and baseless thoughts are developed. These thoughts are not only developed but other people are also initiated into these thoughts by the so-called society spiritual people.
Scriptures never say any grudge between any of the Gods. There very aim is to harmonize all these gods and make the seeker reach that stage where there is only one reality which is formless and beyond all limitations.
Thus Rig Veda says
“Ekam sad vipraa bahudaa vadanthi” – One Reality people speak in different words or ways.
Those who claim that Upanishads and Gita propound that Vishnu is Supreme and Siva is not Supreme should refer to what Sri Krishna tells about FORM and HIMSELF. Also they should refer to the place where Krishna says that “he is Rudra”.
Thus these people who have lost their discriminative capability go on fighting in the name of form. What will be the future for such people? Nothing but destruction and destruction alone.
Thus a seeker should not get into these fights but instead should go beyond all limitations and keep in mind that the reality cannot be contained in a form even as space cannot be contained in a pot or room. When this reality is kept in mind, the seeker respects all forms and contemplates on a single form. Thus he goes beyond the form and realizes the ultimate reality of Lord who is his own very nature itself.
A seeker might be surprised to find out that ego problems and such fights like “who is greater” used to happen in puranic times also. There are many epics and stories to show this. All such stories are meant to degrade the various Devatas but to show the seeker that the reality is beyond all limitations and therefore a person who really wants to realize the reality should not enter into such futile paths or ways. In the Daksha story, we find that the very family and life of Siva was in havoc!!! (Please remember here that no devata is degraded over here but what is really happening in the world is being put forth through this stories – and to show that any form God cannot really help the seeker other than gaining concentration which is due to the seeker’s own effort only). Siva married Sati and Daksha didn’t like it. Thus started ego clash. When Daksha went to a place where all devatas were there, Siva did not mind him or give respect to him. Thus was aroused the Ego in Daksha. Thus Daksha wanted to take revenge on Siva. Thus he conducted a Yajnaa and didn’t give a part of the partaking to Lord Siva (which was Siva’s right – each devaatas get a part of whatever is being offering in the yajnaa). Sati couldn’t bear her husband to be insulted. Here we find “attachment” clinging into Sati. Along with this attachment to Siva, passion towards her parents too was aroused. Thus she wanted to go to that yagaa (even though not invited) and advice his father for the same. Siva refused to give permission to her to go there. Sati couldn’t stop herself from going there. She disobeyed Siva and went there. Thus here Siva gives a clear warning to Sati as to not to go and get humiliated. But passion blinded Sati’s eyes and therefore she could not stop going there. She thus went there and Daksha humiliated her with words. Sati was completely sad and her passion was shattered into pieces because Daksha didn’t even consider her as her daughter. Thus Sati repented for her mistake and thought about Siva’s words. She then cursed that the yaaga may not be completed properly. And then she entered into the homa kunda. Thus Sati was killed because of her fathers egoistic attitude and due to her own passion. Siva was terrified with this, he sent Nandi and his bhoota ganaas and they killed Daksha and destroyed the yaagaa completely. Thus, Siva himself was unable to control his anger.
Thus the entire family of Siva was destroyed by mutual fighting & only Siva remained behind.
Yes, the followers of Siva might say here that “it was his divine play!!!” This is foolishness. If Siva knew everything, why did he have such play? What was the purpose of such a play? If he was the controller of the play, couldn’t he have avoided such havoc?
There will be no real answers to the above questions. Thus those who worship such a God whose family itself is fighting amongst each other (worshipping without the knowledge that everything is Lord alone), what will be effect of such worship? The same thing will happen in the family of the worshipper. Isn’t this what we are seeing today? A person goes to Siva temple daily morning. After coming from the temple, start fighting with wife, call bad words, do bad things etc. Is this what is really required by going to the temple? No, it isn’t.
The above analysis is not meant to say that worshippers of Siva will have fights in the family but to show that without knowing the ultimate reality of God who is present everywhere, a person will never get eternal bliss & peace in the world – not at any moment of time even if he worships Siva, Vishnu or all the 33 crore devatas.
Thus what is important is to remember the ultimate reality of God present everywhere & being one’s own very nature, we have to worship one’s own ishta devata. Now, let us try to really analyze the above story and the import of it to be implemented in daily life. First thing is that whenever there is Ego, there is surely destruction alone in that place as seen in Daksha’s case. Ego creates likes and dislikes which in turn causes anger, aversion, attachment etc. which will not lead the seeker anywhere except fighting amongst each and killing – thereby getting immersed more and more into the ocean of samsaara. A seeker should thus always keep his Ego under control. A seeker should also keep passions, attachment and all under control. They should never control the seeker. This is easily achieved when a person remembers the reality and is thus not attached to anything in the world as the world itself is the Lord alone & thus there is only Lord to whom he is attached. This Lord is not different from himself & hence there is no real attachment at all. Instead if a seeker is overcome by passion, there will be destruction as happened in the case of Sati. If Sati had heeded Siva’s advice, she would not have died. Also a seeker should never let anger overpower him – else his own destruction and sorrow will ensue as happened in the case of Siva.
The above are the main imports to be learned from the story of Daksha. We have to remember here that there is no world at all to have such destruction and all. Siva is a perfect Brahmajnaani as mentioned in Upanishads. Thus he was not really affected by the activities – but he behaved as if affected, he was just doing his role in the drama of the waking world. Unless this reality that there is nothing is known, whether it is Vishnu or Siva or any other person – that person will be affected by the activities in the illusory world. But when a person realizes the real Siva (auspicious Self), then he goes beyond all limitations and thereby realizes the ultimate reality of God and rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in God.
We will see the story in detail in the coming days where we will be seeing as to how does a person really fall a prey to Maya, the illusory power of God and thereby lose all distinctions and become like four-legged creatures (as Sankara says in Maya Panchakam).
# posted by vedanta : 9:10 AM
