Jul 15: Banasura – Part 2

Glory of Vyasa

Of all Gurus and Sadhus, the greatest among the Gurus in Sanatana Dharma is Sage Vyasa, popularly known as Veda Vyasa. Earlier, there was a discussion between the Rishis as to which Avatar of the Lord is indeed the greatest. The Lord has taken ten avatars as far as many people are considered. Even though Srimad Bhagavatam describes the twenty four avatars of the Lord in great detail, the Lord is infinite – “Avatarah hi asankhyeya”. The infinite Lord took twenty four avatars says Srimad Bhagavatam. The Mahatmas on the banks of river Saraswathi discuss the twenty four avatars of the Lord and concluded that none of the Lord’s manifestations can be compared to the incarnation of Sage Vyasacharya. Sage Veda Vyasa was born to a devout couple, Parashara and Satyavati on the auspicious day of Ashada Poornima. Sage Veda Vyasa’s incarnation is considered very important because, but for the avatar of the Lord as Sage Vyasa, the world wouldn’t have come to know about the incarnations of the Lord. It is verily for this reason that Sage Vyasa’s incarnation is considered to be the greatest. It is verily because of Sage Veda Vyasa, that the Vedas are still alive and it was he who divided the Vedas into four parts, the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharvana Vedas. Vedas expound the Yagnas and the procedures to do these sacrifices and rituals with the right Mantras are these four Vedas. The term Rick connotes to some kind of sloka and Rig Veda contains these entire Ricks’ to invite the Lord. The term Sama relates to all these Ricks coupled with music, while Yajur veda speaks about the procedures to perform all the sacrifices [Yagnas]. Sage Veda Vyasa divided the Vedas into four giving them proper lineages along with a Guru for each of them. Rig Veda was given to Paila Maharishi, Yajur Veda was handed over to Vaishampayana, Sama veda to Jaimini and Atharvana Veda to Sage Sumanth.

Sage Jaimini is addressed as a poet. Paila and Vaishampayana are renowned Rishis but Jaimini is a poet. The reason for Jaimini being addressed as a poet by Sage Suta Pouranika is verily because he enjoys the Sama Veda since he is a connoisseur in music. Sama Veda is all about music and a poet is an aficionado in music. It was verily Sage Veda Vyasa who divided the Vedas into four – Shisyaihi Prathishyaihi Tatshisyaihi”; and gave a beautiful lineage to all the Vedas. It is because of Sage Veda Vyasa that devotees reminisce and take part in satsangs. For people who were not capable of learning the Vedas and have no other recourse, he bestowed the Ithihasa Mahabharata which is also known as the Panchamo Veda and the eighteen Puranas. It is verily because of Sage Veda Vyasa that makes Sanatana Dharma still alive in today’s age.

“Guru Brahma Guru Vishnuhu Guru Devo Maheshwaraha
Guru Shakshath Para Brahma Tasmai Sri Guravae Namaha”

It is said that Guru is verily the creator, sustainer and destroyer [Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva]. He is an embodiment of all Devas and one should propitiate to that Guru who is verily the Brahman.

Achatur vadano brahma dvibAhuraparo harih
aphaAla lochanashambuh bhagavAn bAdarAyaNi ||

Sage Vyasa is verily Lord Brahma but the only difference is that he does not have four faces, he is verily Lord Vishnu without four arms as Sage Vyasa only possess two arms [vibhahu ] and he is truly Lord Shiva and is devoid of the third eye [aphala lochana].

With the above two slokas, one can draw a corollary that Guru is verily Sage Veda Vyasa and that explains why Vyasa Poornima is celebrates as Guru Poornima. Sage Vyasa was born as a result of intense penance by Parasara Maharishi.

It is said that during the third phase of Dwapara Yuga, all the Rishis came to the banks of river Saraswathi and were contemplating on the Vedas future since it was the advent of Kali Yuga and thus propitiated to Lord Vishnu, who came in front of them and assured them that he will be born to safeguard the Vedas and protect the Dharma. The Rishis then nominated Parashara Maharishi, the greatest among the Rishis to perform the penance. Even Lord Brahma had to do that penance in order to do the creation. Lord Krishna’s parents had to penance for three births [janmas] for Krishna to be born – Prsihni Sutapa, Aditi Kashyapa and Devaki Vasudeva. The Lord then came in front of Parashara and told him that he will be born to him. Hearing this, Sage Parashara was perplexed since he was a Brahmachari. Once when he was traveling on a boat, he was enticed by the boatman’s daughter Sathyavati who was steering the boat. Sathyavati bowed down to Parashara and Sage Vyasa was thus born to Parashara and Sathyavati as a sixteen year old boy. He spoke about the Lord’s promise to Sage Parashara. He was born as Ayonija akin to Sage Suka. It is said that Sage Vyasa appears and disappears in Mahabharatha as an Avirbhaham akin to Lord Krishna [Taasaam aavirabooh chourihi].

Banasura – Part 2

Following a short round of introductions, Shwethaji from Dallas rendered the Guru Ashtakam and then Sanjev from Dallas continued on Banasura’s discourse.

The divine mother Sita was separated from Lord Rama and it was verily the story narrated by Lava and Kusha that brought the divine mother back to Lord Rama. This lucidly shows the greatness of Katha Shravana that the Lord himself experienced. When Sita Mata was in recluse in Ashoka Vana, she was all set to end her life and it was Hanumanji who was a little hesitant to come in front of her and so he sat between the branches of a tree and sang the divine glories of Lord Rama which were nectarine droplets to the divine mother. Hanumanji thus saved the life of Sita Mata by extolling the divine glories of the Lord. It is verily by the divine grace of the Lord that weekly satsangs happen where the divine names of the Lord are chanted and the satsangs also expounds on the divine plays of the Lord.

Our Sanatana Dharma has the Vedas as its foundation. In spite of giving all the Puranas and Ithihasas, Sage Veda Vyasa was experiencing distress and per the advice of Sage Narada elucidated on the divine plays of the Lord and thus Srimad Bhagavatham was born. This Purana is the only antidote for the evil effects of Kali Yuga and is the fruit of the Vedas. Lord Krishna completed his divine plays on the earth and was getting ready to depart to Vaikunta, he transferred all his love, power and grace into Srimad Bhagavatam and thus every syllable in that scripture is indeed Lord Krishna. The Devas requested to exchange Srimad Bhagavatham with the Devamrtha and Sage Sukha belittled their request by saying that a worthless glass can never be compared to a priceless gem. One is absolved of all sins by merely prostrating and worshipping Srimad Bhagavatam. It is a repository of numerous Geethams and most importantly the stutis done by the Vedas themselves. This purana is often rendered for a period of seven days known as Sapthaham. Padma Purana one of the eighteen puranas has chapters that glorify Srimad Bhagavatham and when one attends a Sapthaham he is completely absolved of all sins and that Lord Krishna the heart. Just by listening to Srimad Bhagavatam for seven days King Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna attained liberation. By merely listening to Srimad Bhagavatam for seven days, Dundukari was relieved of all the atrocious sins that he had committed.
One’s real self [Swaroopa] is to always seek for happiness that is devoid of any sorrow. Sachidanandam is the Lord’s real swaroopa. The terms ‘Sath’, ‘Chith’ and ‘Anandam’ constitute to Sachidanandam. The term ‘Sath’ refers existence, ‘Chith’ relates to intellect and ‘Anandam’ is happiness. One is aware of Sath and Chith but fail to realize that the Anandam is indeed Lord Krishna himself. The tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam lucidly shows that Lord Krishna was always filled with happiness [Anandam]. The Vedas contain everything in it. Some of the mantras have profound meaning and is really hard to comprehend them.

There is a mantra –“Yo asmin dweshti yancha vayam dismahaha” and one who has hatred against the Lord should not stand in front of the Lord. If we misspell the words wrongly, then it might even bring destruction on us. That is verily the reason why one should not approach the Lord directly. A Sadguru is one who helps us comprehend the meaning of the Vedas and narrates the divine glories of the Lord and conducts festivals for the Lord. One should surrender to the holy feet of the Guru, one who is constant communion with the Lord and by serving the Sad Guru will be the sure straight path to lead Lord Krishna. When we do service to the servant of the Sadguru, it reaches both the Lord and Sadguru, while if we do service to the Lord alone, it reaches the Lord alone. It is easy to do service to the Lord but it is extremely difficult to be in the service of a Sad Guru.

Sanjevji then summarized the last week’s lecture on Banasura. He conquered the world with his ten thousand hands which he got as a benediction from Lord Shiva’s due to intense penance. He was very powerful and wanted to with someone of equal strength. Meanwhile, Aniruddha, Krishna’s grandson wanted to marry Banasura’s daughter Usha, and was staying in her courtyard without Banasura’s knowledge. Banasura was furious after hearing this and imprisoned Aniruddha with his Naga Astram.

Krishna and his mighty army came to rescue Aniruudha and a huge battle that ensued between the Yadavas and the Asuras. Lord Shiva and Karthikeya fought on behalf of Banasura. Lord Krishna was forced to his yawning weapon to make Lord Shiva transition to a sleep state. After Lord Shiva’s army was driven away, the Shivajwara appeared throwing fire in all directions and it was soon defeated by Vishnujwara and Lord Krishna cut Banasura’s hands with his Chakrayudha. Uma, Lord Shiva’s wife was not able to witness this scene and woke up Lord Shiva and requested him to save Banasura.

Lord Shiva thus did a stuti to the Lord offering his prostrations and thus offered his praises on the Lord in the form of stuthi. It is a known precept that Hari and Hara are the one and the same. They can read each other’s mind very lucidly.

tvam hi brahma param jyotir ghuDham brahmaaNi vanmaye
yham pashyanti amalatmana akasham iva kevalam
nabir nabho agnir mukam ambu retoh dyauH sirSham asaH shrutir anghrir urvi
chandro mano yasya dRig arka atma aham samudhro jaTharam bhujendraH
romaNi yasyauSadhayo ambu vaahaH kesa virincho dhiSaNa visargaH
praja patir hRudayam yasya dharmaH sa vai bhavan puruSo loka kalpaH
tavavataro yam akuNTha dhaman dharmasya guptyai jagato hitaya
vayam cha sarve bhavatanubhavita vibhavayamo bhuvanani saptha
tavavatharo yam akuNTha dhaman dharmasya guptyai jagato hitaya
vayam ca sarve bhavatanubhavita vibhavayamo bhuvanani sapta
deva dattam imam labdhva nRulokam ajitendhriyaH
yho nadriyeta tvat padau sa shocyo hy atma vanchakaH
aham brahmatha vibudha munayas camalashayaH
sarvatmana prapanas tvam atmanam preSTham ishvaram [Srimad Bhagavatam 10.63.34-43]
In one of our Guru Maharaj’s compositions, there is a verse “Un Mayai ennum peyai oru ganathil villaki”, where our Guru Mahraj requested the Lord to free one from material life.

Lord Shiva then told the Lord that Banasura was his dear and faithful follower and that he has been bestowed him with a boon to emancipate him from all fears and requested him to grant him y akin to the Lord’s grace on Lord Prahalada. The Lord immediately acknowledged to Lord Shiva’s request and promised him that he will not slay Banasura, the son of Virochana and re-iterated his promise that he made to Prahalada that he would kill any of his descendants. He also added that he severed Banasura’s arms to subdue his ego. Banasura who earlier used to accompany him in his musical dance performances stopped playing Mrudangam after he got his ten thousand arms and stopped singing bhajans and now that Banasura had only four arms, he had started to do kirtans again. Kunti in her divine hymns to Lord Krishna sings –
“ Janmaishwarya shutha shibihi raedha mana madha puman|
naivarhath yabidhatum vai thvam akinchana gocharam”||

In one of our Guru Maharaj’s compositions known as Kali Dharma Undhiyar, it is said that “Jeevan Kudiyirukum chinna kutilayae upacharam thevaillai undi para” “Upayogam mattil andu undi para”

The body is verily the house of Jeeva [Soul] and needs no unnecessary fittings and needs to have only what is required. The Lord left Banasura with four hands and immune to old age and death. The Lord also told Lord Shiva that Banasura would be conferred with a name known as “Mahakalan” and that will reside in Mount Kailash. Lord Krishna killed Banasura’s mighty army since they were a huge burden to the earth. Banasura then offered obeisance to Lord Krishna by touching his head to the ground. He then seated his Aniruddha and the bride Usha on the chariot and brought them before the Lord. Lord Krishna then took leave from Lord Shiva and departed to the capitol Dwaraka which was lavishly decorated to welcome the Lord. Aniruddha and Usha lived happily ever after.

It is said in Srimad Bhagavatham that one cannot comprehend Lord Krishna for those who do not completely surrender to a Guru. For people who perform penance with the hope of attaining Lord Krishna will never get a chance to serve the Lord’s devotees. Only Guru Bhakti can usher Krishna Bhakti and cannot be got by directly worshipping Lord Krishna and one can reach Lord Krishna by doing service to Sadgurus.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Jul 8: Banasura – Part 1

In Srimad Bhagavatham, although Sage Shuka wanted to speak about Lord Krishna’s glories, he only elucidates in tenth canto. He does so because he wanted to build the clarity of mind and usher peace in heart and so expounded on the life-histories of the devotees of the Lord prior to Lord’s glories. He makes King Parikshit yearn to listen to Krishna’s glories. He introduced the life-history of Lord Krishna in the ninth canto and

kalau janishyamaNaanam duhka shoka tamo nudam
anugrahaaya bhaktanam supuNyam vyatanod yashah [Srimad Bhagavatham 9.24.61]

 

Sage Suka mentioned to King Parikshit that since it was the advent of Kali Yuga, the whole world was filled with sadness and grief and Lord Krishna incarnated on the earth to eradicate the darkness. Hearing this, Parikshit sprang up requesting Sage Suka to expound on the divine glories of the Lord since his body was saved by Lord Krishna who entered the womb of Uttara to save Parikshit from Ashwattama’s chakra.

drauNyastra viplushTam idham madh angam santhana bijam kuru paNDavanam

jugopa kukshim gatha attha chakro matus ca me yaH sharanam gatayaH     [Srimad Bhagavatham 10.1.6]

It is only then Sage Suka started to expound on the divine glories of Lord Krishna, the tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Lord Sri Krishna enacted the divine glories in three places, Brindavan, Mathura and Dwaraka. All the acts of Lord Krishna as a youth were enacted in Brindavan and the act of slaying of Kamsa happened in Mathura and all the other divine plays that the Lord enacted happened in Dwaraka, after establishing the kingdom.  If we see the Damodara Leela or Shira Chora leela, the motherly love is lucidly depicted [vatsalyam]. The Brahma Mohana Leela of the Lord clearly depicts the friendship he developed with the Gopas and the Lord’s prowess is clearly shown when kidnapping Rukmini. Each of these acts of the Lord shows different traits of the Lord.  The Lord enacted these divine plays for his devotees to reminisce and enjoy the divine acts of the Lord.

Following this, young Sanjev from Dallas delivered a beautiful lecture on life-history of Banasura.

It is a general belief that one needs to accrue tremendous good merits over thousands of births to reminisce Srimad Bhagavatham and Srimad Ramayanam. While the term ‘luck’ [Adhristam] connotes something that cannot be discerned by intellect, Bhagavatas use the term ‘krupa’ since it cannot be perceived by the senses, but can very well be felt. The fact that devotees conglomerate to attend a satsang amidst their worldly chores lucidly shows the immense grace [krupa] of the Lord. Lord Krishna normally showers his blessings in myriad ways. Whatever sorrow or happiness one may experience is only due to sheer blessing of the Lord. Once, Lord Krishna and Sage Narada descended unto the earth to meet the people. After traversing through a forest they finally reached a village. They decided to retire for the day and so they knocked at the door of a villager. The house belonged to a miser and provided some rotted food for them to eat and gave them a torn blanket to retire on the pyol of the house. Next day, Lord Krishna blessed the miser that he would enjoy a whole lot of riches in the years to come and left. After some days, they went and knocked at the door of another old villager, who was a great devotee of the Lord [Bhagavatha]. But for a cow, he carried no other possessions. He scurried out to the barn to milk the cow to feed the guests and tried his best to comfort the guests for that night. The next day, Lord Krishna blessed him that his cow will meet its end very soon. Lord Narada witnessing this scene was bewildered and asked Krishna as to why he blessed the two villagers so contrastingly. He explained that the first villager had myriad of births in the future, from an insect to a bird and all the way to an animal and that he is going to accrue lot of karma and relations, while on the other hand, the old villager had only one cow as his relation and if that cow died, then there is no one for the old man and that he can spend all his time and energy to attain the holy feet of the Lord. Sanjeev then began narrating the story of Banasura and the satsang waited to hear if the Lord blessed or punished Banasura.

Srimad Bhagavatam says that there are two ways to approach a problem. Darkness is no sign of non- existence of light. One cannot drive away darkness but one can try to usher in light. In Sanatana Dharma, mind and vision [the way one perceives] is used interchangeably. Being bounded in the clutches of ignorance is akin to being tied up in a dark room. Bhagavatam predicts that one can have mental stress due to one of the three factors – Soha [depression], Moha [chasing behind something that is non-existent] and Baya [fear]. Anger and fear are the two sides of a coin.  Banasura was the eldest son of King Bali. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and used to play musical instruments for Lord Shiva’s dance. He always wondered about Lord Shiva’s son Karthikeya, the personification of beauty. He aspired to become Shiva’s son as well and so he decided to perform a ferocious nonstop penance on Lord Shiva for this benediction. The merciful Lord along with his wife Uma gladdened by Banasura’s penance and granted him his benediction and accepted Banasura as their son [Manasika]. He was also endowed with one thousand hands and with those hands he totally conquered the three worlds. He was imprudent to request Lord Shiva to guard the fort of his kingdom. King Bali’s father was Virochana, an epitome of truth who was the son of Prahalada.  King Bali indeed possessed lots of Rajas qualities and was filled with ego and pride and they were vanquished by Lord Vamana. One is entitled to get the grace of the Lord when his/her ego is completely subjugated akin to the numeral zero which is a conceit number and is hollow inside to have the Lord reside in. The Lord comes and resides in one when one is devoid of any ego. The numeral eight is a curved zero like Maya. One can get to eight by making a curve over the number zero. How can one get eight back to number zero? When one dissuades away from Maya, the number eight can be brought back to zero. Bana possessed lot of Asura qualities in him but he did not trouble anyone unnecessarily. He only used to fight with people who were equivalent to him. Once, he wanted to test the strength of Ravana and so Bana requested him to lift the earrings of his great grand-father Hiranyakashipu. Ravana was unable to life the earrings and went back ashamed. He was very eager to strike a fight with someone. He once went to Shiva and confided in him that he is unable to find proper use for his thousand hands. He indirectly beseeched Lord Shiva to fight with him. Shiva in reply to his request told Bana that when the flag in his palace breaks, that is verily the indication that the enemy has come closer to humble him. Bana had a daughter named Usha and she loved Aniruddha who was Lord Krishna’s grandson even though she had not seen him. She had seen him in her dreams. Bana had a minister by name Kumbhanda who had a daughter named Chitraleka, who was also Usha’s close friend and companion. Seeing Usha is a state of quandary, Chitralekha enquired Usha with solicitude. Usha replied that she met someone in her dream state and was dark blue in complexion and also had dark blue eyes and was clad in yellow robes. Chitralekha then drew exact resemblances of personages and when she drew Aniruddha’s portrait, Usha acknowledged that he was the person whom she wished to marry. Chitralekha was endowed with Yogic powers that she went to Dwaraka and brought Anirrudha to Usha’s courtyard. Both of them lived together very happily for some time until Banasura came to know of this.  A big battled ensued between Aniruddha and the Asuras. Bana embarrassed by the Anirruddha’s strength did not want to kill him and instead tied him with his Nagahastram and imprisoned him. The flagstaff at Bana’s palace broke that day. Aniruddha started praying to Katyayani Devi and Yogamaya in the guise of Godavari Devi came in front of him and assured him that the snakes will do no harm to him and that Lord Sri Krishna will soon come to save him. When Aniruddha did not return to Dwaraka, Lord Krishna and Balarama were in extreme distress. They came to know from Sage Narada about Aniruddha’s captive. A large army with the adept Yadava warriors along with Balarama, Pradyumna, Satyaki and Samban under the leadership and protection of Lord Krishna set off to Banasura’s fortified capital and laid siege to the city and destroyed the city’s ramparts, gardens and other landscapes. Bana was filled with rage in seeing the city’s destruction. Lord Shiva advised Bana to welcome Lord Krishna and get his daughter Usha married to Aniruddha. However, Bana wanted to fight with someone of equal strength and wanted to fight with Lord Krishna with an army of equal size and requested Lord Shiva to help him fight the battle. Lord Shiva acceded to Bana’s request and hence came in his Nandi vehicle along with his son Karthikeya to fight Lord Krishna and Balarama on behalf of Bana. With single arrow from Lord Krishna’s bow [saranga] made many followers of Lord Shiva to flee the scene. The tumultuous battle continued with Lord Krishna fighting against Lord Shiva while Pradyumna fought against Karthikeya, Lord Balarama fought with Kumbanda and Kupakarna, Samba shot various weapons at Bana’s son and Satyaki had a fierce battle with Bana. Lord Brahma along with other Devas, Yakshas and Kinaras came to witness the battle. Lord Shiva attacked Lord Shiva with a myriad of weapons and Lord Krishna abrogated these weapons with the use of appropriate counter weapons. Lord Krishna knew what Lord Shiva perceived in his mind and Lord Shiva also read Lord Krishna’s mind. Both of them were not wounded and they both were devoid of anger and arrogance.  Lord Karthikeya was bombarded by a flood of arrows that rained from all sides from Pradyumna’s bow and scurried away in his peacock. Kumbhandha and Kupakarna fell down dead unable to bear the attack from Balarama and all soldiers started to run hither and thither in all directions after seeing their leaders’ dead. King Bana was furious to see his army torn apart and abandoned his fight with Satyaki and charged to the battle field to attack Lord Krishna. While Bana pulled simultaneously taut the strings all the five hundred bows with two arrows in each bow, Lord Krishna spilt into two every bow of Banasura and also knocked down the chariot driver. He then blew his conch shell. In order to save Bana, his mother Kotara came to the scene without any cloth on her and the Lord turned away in order to avoid seeing a naked woman and Bana used this as an opportunity to sneak away from the battle-field. Since Lord Shiva’s supporters banished, the Shivajvara that possessed three heads and three legs, the one that can burn everything came forward to attack Lord Krishna. He counteracted this with Vishnujvara, the Lord’s fever weapon and the Shivajvara surrendered to Krishna after the overwhelming attack by Vishnujvara.

He folded his palms and prostrated to the Lord and sang praises of the Lord –

namaami tvanantha shaktim paresham sarvaatmanam kevalam jnapthi mathram
visvothpatti sthana-samrodha-hethum yath thad brahma brahma lingam prashantam
kaalo daivam karma jeeva svabhavo dravyam kshetram praaNa atma vikaaraH
tath-sanghato biija roha pravaahas tvan mayaisha tan niShedham prapadhye
nana bhavair lilayaivopapaannair devan sadhun lokha sethun bibharsi
hamsy unmargan himsaaya varthamanan janmaitath te bhara haraya bhumeh
taptho ham te tejasa duHsahena santogreṇaty ulbaṇena jhvareNa
tavat tapo dehinaam thenghri mulam no severan yavad aasanubaddhaH [Srimad Bhagavatham 10.63.25-28]

Lord Krishna pleased with Shivajvara dispelled his Vishnujvara fear and went away. He also blessed that anyone who remembers the conversation will be devoid of any fear. From nowhere, Bana suddenly appeared and came to attack Lord Krishna. The infallible Lord using his Chakra severed Bana’s hands.

Lord Shiva felt compassionate for Banasura prostrated to Lord’s Chakra and with folded hands started sing praises on the Lord.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.