It is very easy to brush aside tamasic people as not having any wisdom. A little peep into some of the itihaspuranas will prove us wrong. Even the most tamasic character can hold the highest wisdom. Yet the reason why tamas prevails in these cases is simple. The knowledge held is not internalized and most certainly not actualized. The wisdom is usually provided for others as a display or as a remnant of past vasanas. To capitalize on wisdom from any source, focus on the message and not the messenger. We will commence this miniseries with Hiranyakashipu from Srimad Bhagavatam, Skandha VII, Chapter II.
Storytime:
Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksha were the two sons of Diti, the mother of Daityas. They were the reincarnations of Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vishnu. They foolishly thought the great sages and sons of Brahma – Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara as children and refused entry to Vaikunta. Due to their curse they took three reincarnations – Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksha in Satya Yuga, Ravana and Kumbakarna in Treta Yuga and Sisupala and Dantavakra in Dwapara Yuga to earn their release from the curse.
Hiranyaksha was killed by Varaha avatara. An enraged elder brother, Hiranyakasipu, vowed to uproot dharma by exterminating all Brahmanas and Kshatriyas besides killing Vishnu. The encouraged danava hordes unleashed a reign of terror all over the earth. Yet his mother Diti, his widowed sister-in-law Rushabhanu and her sons – Sakuni, Sambara, Dhrishta, Bhutasantapana, Vrika, Kalanabha, Mahanabha, Harismaru and Utkacha were immersed in an ocean of sorrow. Hiranyakasipu consoled them with words of deep vedantic insight.
- Atma is eternal, changeless, pure, all-pervading and all knowing. Due to Maya (ignorance),it projects bodies and gains a subtle body (linga sarira). (नित्य आत्माव्यय: शुद्ध: सर्वग: सर्ववित्पर: । धत्तेऽसावात्मनो लिङ्गं मायया विसृजन्गुणान् ॥ nitya ātmāvyayaḥ śuddhaḥ sarvagaḥ sarva-vit paraḥ dhatte ’sāv ātmano liṅgaṁ māyayā visṛjan guṇān SB 7-2-22)
- Due to the gunas of Prakriti the Purusha identifies itself with the mind and though devoid of a body, perceives itself as the body. This misapprehension leads to attachment to objects and revulsion to others causing Karma and Samsara. This misapprehension rests on the lack of viveka (discrimination) is reason for birth and death, sorrows and lies rooted in our inability to not know our real nature as Atman, which is not the body. (Read more in Practical Krishna – our stolen identity)
Story of Suyajna of Usinara: Hiranyakasipu narrated the conversation between Yama and a dead man’s relatives. Suyajna, the King of Usinara, was killed in battle and mourned by his relatives. The fallen warrior evoked strong emotions due to his sudden loss and some were intent on even giving up their lives. To console the numerous desperate wives, Yama out of compassion, assumed the form of a boy and consoled.
- He exclaimed how wonderful was the ignorance of these elders who had more knowledge to mourn on the return to the unknown of one person when they are going to meet the same fate shortly.
- The Supreme Being, who is changeless and indestructible, by HIS will creates, sustains and dissolves this Universe and is a mere sport. (य इच्छयेश: सृजतीदमव्ययो य एव रक्षत्यवलुम्पते च य: । तस्याबला: क्रीडनमाहुरीशितु श्चराचरं निग्रहसङ्ग्रहे प्रभु: ॥ ya icchayeśaḥ sṛjatīdam avyayo ya eva rakṣaty avalumpate ca yaḥ tasyābalāḥ krīḍanam āhur īśituś carācaraṁ nigraha-saṅgrahe prabhuḥ SB 7-2-39)
- Due to the latent Karma in the subtle body (linga sarira), all Jivas get their next body which perishes in time. When embodied in birth, the bodies partake in actions but the Atman is aloof and unaffected. (भूतानि तैस्तैर्निजयोनिकर्मभि- र्भवन्ति काले न भवन्ति सर्वश: । न तत्र हात्मा प्रकृतावपि स्थित- स्तस्या गुणैरन्यतमो हि बध्यते ॥ bhūtāni tais tair nija-yoni-karmabhir bhavanti kāle na bhavanti sarvaśaḥ na tatra hātmā prakṛtāv api sthitas tasyā guṇair anyatamo hi badhyate SB 7-2-41)
- Yama, the lad, highlighted the fact that the wives never saw him as Atman when alive and what they identified as Suyajna still lies in front of them. The person is not even the Prana (Breath of life) that enlivens it. The Prana and Indriyas are unconscious entities which need the Atman to enliven them.
- The five elements, the ten indriyas and the manas give rise to the gross and physical bodies of various kinds, but need the Atman to enliven it.
- All suffering, samsara, Karma is due to the association of Atman with the subtle body (linga sarira). Once it realizes the real nature, it is freed from the ignorance driven suffering. (यावल्लिङ्गान्वितो ह्यात्मा तावत्कर्मनिबन्धनम् । ततो विपर्यय: क्लेशो मायायोगोऽनुवर्तते ॥ yāval liṅgānvito hy ātmā tāvat karma-nibandhanam tato viparyayaḥ kleśo māyā-yogo ’nuvartate SB 7-2-47)
- Happiness and sorrow arising from this mental aberration is fruitless and all sensory driven projections are inherently false.
- Ones who can discriminate between Permanent and Impermanent never grieve over the impermanent body but abide themselves in the Permanent Atman. (अथ नित्यमनित्यं वा नेह शोचन्ति तद्विद: । नान्यथा शक्यते कर्तुं स्वभाव: शोचतामिति ॥ atha nityam anityaṁ vā neha śocanti tad-vidaḥ nānyathā śakyate kartuṁ sva-bhāvaḥ śocatām iti SB 7-2-49)
Story of Kulinga birds: Yama narrated them an insightful and educative story. A hunter, adept in trapping and killing birds, found a pair of kulinga birds. The female bird got snared by his net. The distressed male bird attempted to rescue the female. Worried and lamenting at its fate and brooding over how to raise the hapless motherless chicks drew the attention of the hiding hunter. He shot and killed the unsuspecting male.
Yama, the lad, cautioned the wives that when their own death is unknown and imminent, how futile it is to lament over the departed even if it is for a hundred years. (एवं यूयमपश्यन्त्य आत्मापायमबुद्धय: । नैनं प्राप्स्यथ शोचन्त्य: पतिं वर्षशतैरपि ॥ evaṁ yūyam apaśyantya ātmāpāyam abuddhayaḥ nainaṁ prāpsyatha śocantyaḥ patiṁ varṣa-śatair api SB 7-2-57)
Thus the wisdom filled words of Yama made the relatives of Suyajna snap out of their disillusion. As Yama disappeared from their sight, they strengthened their minds with viveka to perform his funeral and obsequies.
Hearing this narrative, Diti, Rushabhanu and her sons gave up their grief and began to focus on the Spiritual truths of life. (तत्त्वे चित्तमधारयत् tattve cittam adhārayat SB 7-2-61)
Hiranyakasipu instead of imbibing his own knowledge began his quest to become invincible, deathless and unaging and wanted suzerainty over all the worlds as if the discourse did not apply to him. This tamas brought his end by evoking Narasimha avatara.
Practical applications:
Our real nature: Viveka is to constantly ask the question of what is real and what is unreal, what is permanent and what is ephemeral. Simple logic tells us that our body is constantly changing from a newborn to youth, middle age to senility and that birth and death merely apply to the body. It is also obvious that we are not the mind or emotions as it is constantly in a flux. Nor are we our buddhi, as it is also subject to change. Behind these changes is a changeless entity, Atman. When we remind ourselves our true nature as Atman, we cease to differentiate based on triviality and is unified by the Consciousness. Armed with the real knowledge of the Self, we treat others with respect as we see the unity. The way we perceive the world changes from a limiting body, mind, intellect and sensory way to a limitless divine way.
Loss of loved ones: To a super attached person, devoid of the understanding that we are Atman, the loss of a beloved can be very challenging; be that of a child or spouse or parent. Intense attachment causes the entire world to disappear into a vacuum. Everything appears worthless. This delusion is highlighted in Yama’s parable of Kulinga birds. One must realize that we came from an unknown and return to an unknown, just like our beloved. Only our Karma is the sole accompanying factor. Despite our deepest desires to follow and be with our beloved, the primary misidentification as ourselves being a body due to our ignorance, keeps us busy on our Karmic journey. In this journey, due to our karmic baggage, we spend time in a body with other bodies. Once we realize this truth, we will never bereave the loss of a beloved.
Others fantasize of travelling with their beloved as soulmate or join them in other janmas. One factor that we fail to recognize is each Jivatman has its own path, based on its karma it charters its way forward. Just like we meet few strangers who become friends during a train or plane journey, who part ways upon arriving at their destinations, we have relationship only till we have this body.
Purpose of life: To the person who misidentifies oneself as the body and their beloved ones as body (or mind or intellect), there is a perpetual trap of ahamkara (I-ness) that keeps governing their karma. Due to this, they become agents to enjoy the fruits of their own Karma. Instead if a person keeps Artha and Kama contained within Dharma, the natural phala is Moksha. Being rooted in Dharma, purifies our chitta and keeps reminding ourselves as Atman. Any action with this understanding does not generate or accumulate karma. The purpose of life is to discover our real nature. This is despite our current situation in family, with or without spouse or children or the events we have set in motion in our lives.
Rise above sorrow: Death brings big sorrow to oneself or those who are attached to someone. When one realizes that they are indestructible Atman that is misidentifying itself in an ever-changing perishable body, there is no sorrow. There is neither an element of temporary pleasure, as our real nature is ecstasy and peace. To remind ourselves as Atman is the only purpose of all shastras, Upanishads, Itihasapuranas, Vedas and Gita. Acharyas of all Santana Dharma traditions emphasize our real nature as Jivatman. Their only difference is its relationship with Paramatman.
Watch for the entrapping Karma: Our Karma determines how we live and think, but also how we project our next janmas as well. Karma creates Janma, due to our current janma we create more Karma. This perpetual self created cycle is called samsara. One cannot live in the world without actions or reactions. What drives these actions or reactions is our intent, our mind. The mind is impelled by its own vasanas and by the objects of sensory perception. The only way to get out of this cycle is cut it where it matters most – our next action. If we do not choose to obliterate this samasaric cycle, this cycle driven by Karma can go ad infinitum.
Knowing vs Being: Hiranyakasipu knew the highest Truth. He was even able to transfer it to the distressed and cure them of their oppressive sorrow. Yet when it came to himself, he failed to apply and worse yet turned himself into the epitome of tamas. We may also understand the finer aspects of Vedanta and can even outclass the most erudite person well versed in shastras. But if we cannot transfer it to our constant thinking and being, such knowledge is as useless as a painting of food will not fill our stomach with its appearance. The place to start is where we are. Whatever little we understand of the shastras, we must strive to internalize and make it as a part of ourselves. As our internalized knowledge shines its light, it adds to hunger to know more about our real nature, which will create more knowledge that we must imbibe to go further.
Our job is handover the reins of our life to Paramatma, like Arjuna left the steering of his chariot to Krishna. The Jivatma has to take care of the temple of its existence – the body, mind and intellect. Constantly maintaining the vehicle without losing the original identity, we erase our Prarabda karma, the baggage we brought for this body. As we put a stop to the Agami karma, new karmas we breed, through our viveka, karma yoga and making ourselves more satvic, we will burn the dormant sanchita karma, which is yet to fructify. We can realize our real nature as Atman and also its relationship with Paramatman in this very body, in this very life. May we be empowered to charge through this journey with the grace of Paramatma.
ॐ तत् सत
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