The Wisdom-Sun of Vedic Truth
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
When we study the Vedas we should be aware of two different things: the esoteric interpretations of the Vedas made by illumined spiritual Masters, and the mental conclusions made by scholars and historians. Each esoteric interpretation by a Master is founded upon a direct intuitive vision of the Truth, whereas each mental conclusion of a scholar or historian is founded upon unillumined mental analysis and hesitant, uncertain research.
The seers of the hoary past saw the Truth and revealed the Truth. Seekers of all ages feel the Truth and use the Truth. But most scholars do not care for the realisation of the Truth; they care only for the manifestation of the Truth. They care more for the form than for the spirit of the Vedas. Most historians put the lesser truths mentioned in the Vedas, those relating to the caste system and magic formulas, in the vanguard of their discussions, and pay little attention to the highest Truth, the Knowledge of Brahman. They have no time to know soulfully and devotedly the life-energising and life-fulfilling messages that the Vedas actually contain. The life-giving and life-revealing messages of the Vedas do not seem to satisfy them. The birth of the Vedas, the outer growth of the Vedas and the decline of the Vedic influence on India are more than enough to satisfy them.
The Vedas are meant for the lovers of eternal Time, not for the lovers of fleeting earthly time. The Vedas are meant for those who love God, the Truth, and not for those who love merely the body of obscure history, which embodies the life of complication and confusion.
Professor Max Müller undoubtedly loved India. He wrote considerably on Indian scriptures. But there was something in him which a true lover of India cannot forgive. Those who feel that Max Müller’s love for India had a secret motive are perfectly correct. In utmost secrecy, in the inner recesses of his heart it seemed that he wanted to convert India, the Indian mind and the Indian heart, to Christianity. For example, he wrote to the Secretary of State for India, the Duke of Argyl, in 1868:
The ancient religion of India is doomed and if Christianity does not step in, whose fault will it be?
And to his wife in 1886, he wrote:
I hope I shall finish the work, and I feel convinced, though I shall not live to see it, that this edition of mine and the translation of the Vedas will hereafter tell to a great extent on the fate of India and on the growth of millions of souls in that country. It is the root of the religion, and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last 3,000 years.
When he extolled India to the skies, he was sincere in his praise. It came from the depths of his heart. But his desire to convert India to Christianity was equally sincere. That feeling too, I am sure, came from the depths of his heart. His was a life of complexity.
Had Max Müller not studied the Upanishads, had he not been illumined by the Light of the Upanishads, he would not have been acclaimed by the entire world. His name would have remained unknown in the world’s literature. If it is true that he brought the Upanishads to the world at large, then it is equally true that the touch of the Upanishadic Light brought him fame.
The Vedas and the Vedic hymns are inseparable. Each hymn is an invocation to a particular god or deity. Each hymn is a discovery of a kavi, rishi or vipra: a Vedic poet, a Vedic seer or a Vedic sage. Each Vedic discovery is a boon from God. Each boon is a spark of Light. Each spark of Light is an accomplishment of God in man and an accomplishment of man in God. Man’s ultimate accomplishment is the transformation of human nature. God’s ultimate accomplishment is the perfection of the earth-consciousness.
Life is an idea.
Life is an ideal.
Life has a soul.
Life has a goal.The Vedic idea of life is the idea of Truth. The Vedic ideal of life is the ideal of Bliss. The Vedic soul is the soul of multiplicity in unity. The Vedic goal is the goal of unifying earth’s wideness and Heaven’s abundance.
India had the Vedic seers of Truth. India has seekers after Truth. The supreme task of the seers was to bring the cosmic gods and deities down into the earth-consciousness. They performed their task. Now it is the task of the seekers to keep the gods and deities here on earth and help them in their cosmic play. The Supreme saw His infinite potentialities and possibilities in the seers. The Supreme sees His manifesting Reality and fulfilling Perfection in the seekers.
Published in The Vedas: Immortality’s First Call
Parvati Becomes a Fisherman’s Daughter
A story told by Sri Chinmoy
in Sanya, China
I am inspired to tell a story that has to do with Mount Kailash, because Kailash is now massaging me. As you know, Mount Kailash is our most sacred mountain.
Lord Shiva can be pleased sooner than the soonest. You can worship him with only one simple leaf, tulasi, which in India is everywhere available. If you sprinkle just a little water on top of the leaf and then place it at the feet of Lord Shiva, he will give you everything. Sometimes, by giving human beings boons, he creates such problems for himself!
Lord Shiva’s consort is Parvati, and their dwelling-place is on top of Mount Kailash. Every day Lord Shiva used to explain difficult, difficult points from the Vedas to Parvati. Many things in our sacred books are very difficult to understand, so he used to carefully explain them to her. This went on for years.
It happened that one day Parvati found Lord Shiva’s explanation boring and she lost her concentration. When Lord Shiva saw that she had lost her concentration, with his third eye — which is his destruction-aspect — he cursed her. He said, “You are not paying any attention to me, so I am cursing you. You have to take human incarnation as a fisherwoman!”
A curse is a curse, so Parvati had to come down to earth. She took the form of a four-year-old girl and she appeared at the foot of a tree. The little child was very beautiful.
The chief fisherman of that area found the helpless child and brought her to his cottage. He adopted her and began to lavish all his affection, love, sweetness and fondness on her. He himself did not have any children. The funniest thing is that the fisherman also gave her the name Parvati. Her original name on Mount Kailash was Parvati, and when she played the role of the daughter, it was the same.
In the meantime, Lord Shiva was so miserable. He was crying pitifully, “What have I done? What have I done? Why did I express my anger? Now look at me! Without her I cannot exist even for a moment.”
Lord Shiva’s main attendant is a white bull called Nandi. Although he is a bull, Nandi can talk. He felt miserable that Lord Shiva was suffering, so he said, “Why do you not bring Parvati back here? You have so much occult power. You have only to use your third eye and bring her back.”
Lord Shiva replied, “No, I cannot do that. I am seeing very clearly that she is going to marry a fisherman. Now she is still growing up. Alas, I do not know when she will be able to come back to me.”
Nandi said, “I cannot see you suffering. It is unbearable! I shall solve your problem.”
Lord Shiva was so surprised. “You will solve my problem?” It was like a slave saying that he will solve the master’s problem. Then Lord Shiva continued, “All right, please solve my problem.”
What Nandi did was to take the form of a whale. He entered into the water where the fishermen of that village used to fish. Every day, in their tiny boats, they would go out and catch fish. Then they would sell their fish at the market. This huge whale started torturing the fishermen, and also it was consuming the small fish that they used to catch. The fishermen were so helpless. They were not catching any fish, and their boats were quite often capsized by the whale. They all became so sad and miserable.
The fishermen came to the chief of their community, Parvati’s adoptive father, and told him of their present misfortune. He said, “I am also helpless. Now what can we do with this whale?”
Then a brilliant idea flashed through his brain. He said, “Whoever can kill the whale, I will give my daughter to him in marriage. This is my promise. And my daughter is extremely beautiful.”
So many fishermen tried in vain to kill the whale. Alas, instead of killing it, many were devoured by the whale. They all lost! By now, people were afraid of the whale. Those fishermen who still remained did not dare to go near it, and they did not want to make any more attempts to kill it. Now they were even more miserable than before. They could not catch any fish to earn their livelihood, and they knew that they were not going to get this beautiful girl in marriage.
One day Nandi returned to Lord Shiva with a message. He said, “The chief fisherman is saying that whoever can kill the whale — by which he means me — will be able to have his beautiful daughter in marriage. This is his promise. Can you not take the form of a fisherman and appear there as the strongest and most powerful man? You can kill the whale, and then you will be able to bring back your most beautiful wife.”
“Oh, that is a splendid idea!” said Lord Shiva. “I am going.”
Lord Shiva took the form of a young man, most powerful and handsome in every way. Then he appeared before the fishermen of that village. They had never seen such a strong and handsome man. They were so happy to welcome him in their midst. The chief of the fishermen said, “I am so happy! Who are you?” Lord Shiva replied, “I do not want to say who I am. Just tell me, will you keep your promise if I kill the whale?”
The chief fisherman said, “Definitely! If you kill the whale, then I shall definitely keep my promise. You will have my daughter.”
Lord Shiva entered into the water and killed this whale, and in this way Nandi was killed by his own master. Then Shiva and Parvati were married on earth and came back again to Mount Kailash. Nandi also came back and again became Lord Shiva’s closest attendant.
After that, Lord Shiva said that he would never teach his wife the Vedas any more. He did not want to lose Parvati a second time!
Published in The Power of Kindness and Other Stories
The Asura is Burnt to Ashes
A story told by Sri Chinmoy
in Sanya, China
This second story about Lord Shiva is one which all of you know, but I will just decorate it a little in my own village way.
Most of our Indian Cosmic Gods and Goddesses are wise in giving boons. They see if the person really deserves it before they give a boon. But in the case of Lord Shiva, he does not care. If he is pleased with someone, he does not want to know if the person deserves the boon or not.
There was once a very powerful asura called Bhasmasur. He enjoyed life to the fullest in his own way for years and years. He was destroying people here and there, but he was not getting any inner happiness. Finally he came to realise that there is no real happiness in mere enjoyment. Then he started meditating and meditating and meditating. He meditated for centuries.
Every day Bhasmasur would cut off a portion of his body. To please Lord Shiva, little by little he was sacrificing his own body. Formerly he was a huge asura, but gradually he became like a skeleton.
At last Lord Shiva appeared before Bhasmasur and asked, “What do you want?”
The asura replied, “I have prayed and meditated. I have pleased you. Now I want to have something in return, a power which nobody else on earth has. Please tell me that you will not give this boon to anybody else.”
Lord Shiva said, “All right, I will give you a boon which I will not grant to anybody else. You will be the only one to have that miracle-power.”
The asura said, “I want to have this boon: the moment I touch the head of any human being, that person will turn into ashes.” Lord Shiva said, “You have pleased me immensely with your prayer and meditation. It is such an easy thing for me to give you that kind of boon. I can give it to you now, easily! Also, I promise that I will not give this particular boon to anybody else.”
Right there and then, Lord Shiva gave Bhasmasur the boon he desired. The asura was so happy, so thrilled, that he was the only one to be the possessor of this particular boon. Whomever he touched, that person would turn into ashes. The asura immediately wanted to apply the boon to Lord Shiva himself!
Lord Shiva cried, “O my God! What have I done, what have I done, what have I done?” Then Lord Shiva ran and ran and ran, faster than the fastest. He had faster speed than this asura. Finally, Lord Shiva arrived at Lord Vishnu’s palace. Lord Vishnu is one of the Hindu Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Brahma creates, Vishnu preserves, Shiva transforms.
“Save me, save me!” Shiva said to Vishnu.
Vishnu asked, “What is wrong?”
Shiva explained, “I gave one asura a boon: the moment he touches anybody, that person will be burnt to ashes. Now he wants to test the boon on my head!”
Vishnu said, “Do not worry. I have a very big palace. You hide somewhere. I will take care of him.”
Lord Shiva was hiding in Lord Vishnu’s palace when Bhasmasur arrived, panting and panting. The asura said to Vishnu, “What has happened, what has happened? Shiva gave me a boon and then, when I wanted to experiment to see if the boon really worked, he just started running, and I could not keep pace with him. Now what am I going to do?”
Lord Vishnu showed the asura a sympathetic face. He said, “Do not worry. You are now here. You can stay at my palace and I will treat you very nicely. Shiva? He is a number-one liar, first of all! You know, he always drinks and drinks, and he does not even know what he is saying! How did you come to believe him in the first place? Nobody believes what Shiva says, nobody, so you are a fool! You should not have believed him. He is always dealing with snakes, and he eats all kinds of things. He does not even know what day of the week it is. He is always enjoying his own life. You should not have trusted him. I tell you, he does not have that kind of power. I know, because he is a friend of mine.
“Anyway, even if he had given you that boon — a power that nobody else has — why do you have to take the trouble of going and searching for him? You just try it on your own head. I tell you, nothing will happen. No, nothing will happen because Shiva does not have that kind of power. Shiva just brags.” “That is true,” said Bhasmasur.
Then Lord Vishnu continued, “I assure you, nothing will happen to you, nothing will happen. Since nothing will happen, you can put your hand on your own head. Then I will help you to catch Shiva because he is such a liar. You can trust me!”
The asura trusted Lord Vishnu and he placed his hand on his own head. Immediately, he died and turned into ashes then and there. Then Vishnu sent for Shiva, who was hiding in his palace. When Shiva came, he could not believe what had happened. Vishnu had solved his dilemma.
These three Cosmic Gods — Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva — offer each other mutual help. When Vishnu is in trouble, Shiva will come to help. When Brahma is in trouble, the other two come to his assistance. They are friends, but not human friends. Human friends will not have the capacity to glorify each other. Always one friend will be at the top; he will be the best of the three. But when it comes to the Cosmic Gods, they try to humble themselves. They say, “No, that one is greater than me, the other one is greater.” Each one tries to glorify the others.
This story all of you know. I am only embellishing it.
Many, many times in New York while I am doing a bench press — let us say, 1,000 pounds, while I am lying down, at around four-thirty or five o’clock in the morning, upstairs in my second room — I will see Lord Shiva seated on my bed. With such joy, such love, such compassion-power, he is watching me, watching me, watching me.
Published in The Power of Kindness and Other Stories