Stray Thoughts

5 – 2014

Dear Friends,

For a few days now a few thoughts have been causing a minor turbulence in my mind.

I have been wondering why God plays so many games with HIS favourite creation, the human being. To top it all up HE never tires of these games (leelas- as we call them) and has been playing them since time itself began.

He first creates a huge variety of beings, allows them to follow an elaborate and complicated life long script and then removes them from the scene to reappear in a new role in the next life. This he is in the habit of repeating ad-infinitum. To add spice to the fun and games He Himself makes guest appearances, which are game changers.  The famous ten avatars of Vishnu, the innumerable Shiv leelas, and the minor appearances of the Lotus seated Bramha, and the other minor devtas such as Indra and so on, is what I am talking about.

All in all it’s a complex interplay of many extremely powerful forces, too complicated for the average being to even begin to comprehend.

I spent about a week in Gurudham Mandar Hill ashram, meditating. It was here that this question kept popping up in my mind. A bit of reflection and lots of remembrance of my Gurudev’s words, brought forth the following, which I now share with you.

We are creatures made in His image with the infinite though difficult to comprehend ability to assume the almost the near infinite powers that HE Himself wields.

We create the world around ourselves with two instruments 1) our karma and 2) our very last thought, ever, locked in our ethereal bodies in the previous life. This is explained in great detail in the eigth chapter of the Srimad Bhagwat Gita. On top of that our five sensory organs coupled with the heart (मन ), lock us into this illusory world, and we spend the rest of the new life in pursuit of the transient and fleeting baubles, which in any case we are destined to abandon and move on to the hereafter.

Kabir has said

 1)  ऊँचे ऊँचे महल बनाता करता होडम होड़ !

      ते मंदिर सुने पड़े गया तू सब को छोड़ !! 

 2) कोडी  कोडी  माया रे जोडी,  जोड़  के महल बनाया है !

     अंत काल तोहे बाहर करिया कोई साथ नहीं आया है !!

“Yat bhande tat bramhande” Whatever exists in the entire creation also exists in our own ‘bhand’ –bodies. That includes the activities and stories that take place ‘बह्यो- अभियंतरः ’ outside and inside. An example was Bheem’s visit to Naglok after being fed poisoned laddus’ , which we discussed and analysed in a previous post. It very clearly establishes the above statement. Another example came to mind while watching the new Mahabharat on TV, its quite amazing

DRAUPADI’S swayamvar :-

Draupadi is the Sushumna nadi in the spine of the human being. Its bottom most edge starts from the muladhaar chakra where the ‘kulkundalini’ resides, it is called ‘Haridwar’ Hari ka dwar or the gate to the Lord. But this gate is as :

The Great Saint Kabir says

 “ भक्ति द्वार बड़ा सांकरा ओर नहीं दिखाय ! 

मन ऐरावत होई रह्या किस विध पैठयो  जाइ !!"

The sushumna, Baba told me is just 1/1000^th of a single strand of human hair thick. Kabir says to enter this tiniest of tiny ‘dwar’ you have to drastically reduce the size of your munn which is like the ‘Airawat” the elephant of Indra. Can the elephant enter a door the size of a needle’s tip?

But as already said , man has the infinite capacity to achieve the impossible; being a reflection of the Lord.

Draupadi’s Swayamvar is an external manifestation of this internal process. Here’s how :

The king ‘Drupad’ is the being himself. He obtains two off springs from the fire of a hawan,  Drishtdyumn, [the first flashes of undefinable jyoti in the middle of the forehead, after starting kriyayog (yagya)] on continuing his sadhan Draupadi appears to him from the fire of the yagya [he becomes aware of the existence of the Sushumna].

At the appropriate time the swayamvar is arranged and all the mighty kings are invited to it. On the advice of Lord Krishn Himself the toughest test is laid out for the competition. 

The prominent invitees are :

Duryodhan -wicked mind(दुर्बुद्धि )

Shakuni - jealousy(ईर्ष्या )

Karn - (कच्चे कान वाला )he who is easily swayed by the spoken word

and many kings and warriors. 

Arjun { the tejas tatwa of the body[samaan vayu] resident of the manipur chakra, behind the navel} appears in the shape of a brahman( जो ब्रम्ह में रमन करे सो ब्राह्मण ) in the presence of Lord Krishn(कूटस्थ ) Drupad (जीव ), his son Drishtdyumn(दृष्टद्युम्न) and Draupadi (सुषुम्ना नाड़ी ), lifts the Shiv Dhanush (प्रणब , या ॐ ) looks down (he is after all a creature of the world) finds the reflection of the lord in the world (ऊँ  के ऊपर का बिंदु ) puts his ego (arrow) and pierces the fish's eye (यह बिंदु बहुत अध्यात्मिक महत्व  रखता है और साधक को इस में प्रवेश करने का अथक प्रयास करना पड़ता है) to win the competition and the bride.

Shruti says :

प्रणवो धनु , शरो ह्यात्मा , ब्रम्ह तदलक्ष्य मुच्यते 

The Bramhakshar Pranab is the bow, chit buddhi ahankaar = atma is the arrow and Bramh or the Lord is the target.

When the great sages realised that the normal human is incapable of deciphering God's leelas, they wove them around interesting stories, incidents and even epics. The result is a huge treasure trove of literature available to us Indians. Only if we could overcome the legacy of the thousand year subjugation by invaders and be able to see our own wonderful culture, religion and history.

My eyes were opened to this enormous dazzling wealth by the kripa of my सदगुरु !

Every friday in Kolkata and tuesdays in Dhanbad i talk about what I have gleaned at his feet and am blessed by Him.

I share some of this with you on my blog 'Stray Thoughts' under the

Keep writing to me or commenting if you have liked or disliked anything or if you have any suggestions. A line will encourage me and help me redouble my efforts.

God Bless !

Jai Guru !!

Gurukripayachak

Jitendra