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This Purana
contains 4 Chapters as follows.
This chapter
contains 9 sections:
APPEARANCE OF BRAHMAJI
According to the scriptures,
Brahmaji was born on the lotus that had arisen from the navel of eternal
ommipresent Lord Narayan Vishnu. During the period of deluge (Pralaya)
all the creations was destroyed and the creatures that had gone into
Maharloka (the fourth of the upper worlds according to the Puranas),
take birth again on the earth as per their deeds. God who keeps an
account of the innumerable deeds of those inumerable creatures and
arrange for their incarnations is called Brahma.
Scriptures describe the appearance of Brahmaji thus:
CHATURMUKHD VEDADHARAH SAKSHASUTRA KAMANDALUH |
HANSARUDHO RAKTAVASA BRAHMALOKA PITAMAH ||
Meaning:
He has four heads, holds Vedas, Rosary, Yagyopavita (Sacred thread) and
Kamandalu (bowl); wears red cothes and rides a swan. He is none other
than Brahmaji, grandfather of all of us.
Brahmaji is shown with four heads, Besides being the creator of the
universe, Brahmaji is a deponent of the deeds of all the creatures as
well, alloting the creatures various incarnations as per their deed is
duty of Brahmaji. Hence the full knowledge of a creatures deed is an
indispensable precondition before deciding an incarnation for it. Only
then full justice could be assured for a creature. Hence to look around
in all the directions, Brahmaji is shown with the four heads.
Brahmaji is the great grandfather
of all of us. Hence his appearance must match his status. Since
antiquity, in a single day of Brahmaji no one knows how many members of
creatures take birth and die. The period since antiquity can be
calculated according to astrology. Since Brahmaji has such an eternal
existance, his appearance must correspondend to his eternity as well, so
that feeling of respect could naturally arise among the people for him.
Hence, Lord Brahma is shown with a white beard.
Swan is a white bird. God has
bestowed it with unique virtues. Virtues that are not to be found in any
creature of the eighty-four lakh incarnations, their virtue is
NEERA-KSHEERA VIVEKA, that is, if milk is mixed with water, a swan is
capable of separating milk from water and taking it rejecting the water.
It is an indication fof Brahmaji that every creature deserves a full
justice regarding his deeds , no matter how much entangled it might be.
There should not be any ado in the justice. People must also learn from
it that they should imbibe only the valuable part of a thing and discard
the worthless. Only then they could be regarded as a doer of good deeds
and thus receive honour in the society.
Brahmaji is also shown as holding Vedas is one of his hands why? It is
natural to be curious about it. Vedas are undoubtedly the most ancient
scriptures in the word. Even the great deluge (Pralaya) could not
destroy Vedas for almighty Brahma himself had taken incarnation to save
Vedas during deluge. Hence Vedas have no beginning and no end. Besides
Vedas also remind Brahmaji of the previous Kalpa (the grand period that
includes all the four Yugas). Vedas also teach us that everything is
destructible, only the truth can not be destroyed. Hence in the
carnation of destructible body, never forget the indestructible,
eternal, almighty Paramatma because every other thing in the world is
bound to be destroyed one day.
The great grandfather of all the creatures Lord Brahma teaches by his
appearance that the human incarnation is not just for the mundane jobs.
Instead among the mundane jobs, human being must keep on remembering the
almighty Paramatma. Because without reciting the name of almighty God
welfare of any human being is simply not possible. Hence, by the rosary
in second hand Brahmaji teaches that, always keep on telling the name of
almighty God, for your welfare. It is therefore written also -
JAPATA SIDDHIH JAPATASIDDHIH JAPATASIDHIH NASANSHAYAH
Meaning :
One gets perfection only in the name of almighty God, there is no doubt
in it. Hence, comprehensing these things human being must keep on
reciting and telling the name of omnipresent God whether he is moving,
or sitting, eating or drinking and sleeping or awakening.
JALAMEV JEEVANAM
That is water is life. Water is
the basic physical element that caused the whole creation to exist. The
coconut shell bowl (Kamandalu) held by Brahmaji; also holds water, thus
depicting the hassle free existence and continuence of the whole
creation.
Lotus is the seat
for Lord Brahma Lotus also adorns the hand of Lord Vishnu and is an
essential item to worship Lord Shiva. Every one knows that the lotus
grows from the muck. Thus, it teaches that inspite of being born of the
muck be as pure as possible. Including humans, all creatures are born
out of the muck called passion and illusion. They are unable to free
themselves from these two. Thus the lotus seat of Brahmaji teaches that
regardless of origin one must strive to be as free and pure as possible
from the influences of one's origin. In another words, humans must
obtain themselves from the passion and illusion of the world despite
being surrounded by them.
This chapter
contains 3 sections:
Literally, Saraswati means SARAH - Knowledge, STHANAMYASYAH ASTITI.
Thus, Saraswati is the goddess who rules all kinds of knowledge without
worshipping her no one can be a learned person. Hence followers of other
religious also worship Saraswati, though the name and appearance may
differ slightly. Appearance of Saraswati is thus described in the
scriptures :
SHUKLAM BRAMHAVICHARASA RA PARMADYAM JAGADVYAPINEEM
VEENAPUSTAK DHARINIMABHAYADAM JADYANDHAKARA PAHAM |
HASTE SPHATIKA MALIIKAM VIDADHI PADMASANE SAMSTHITAM |
VANDE TAM PARAME SHVAREEM
BHAGWATEEM BUDDHI PRADAY SHARDAM ||
Meaning : Wearer of the
white clothes giver of the power to reflect the essence of Brahma,
supreme power, holder of veena (Lyre), book, beaded rosarry, the
benevolent Goddess is seated on a lotus. I respectfully pray the Goddess
who gives us knowledge.
Noted sage Bhartrihari writes
that without literature and music, a man is not more than an animal.
Hence the book and veena in the hands of Saraswati teach that if the
humans wish to do away with their bruteness, knowledge of literature and
music is must for them. Hence, Goddess Saraswati is shown with a book
and Veena the symbols of literature and music respectively.
The ultimate goal of knowledge is
salvation. Salvation is possible only with unification with God. And
rosary is a means for unification with God. But why a rosary of white
beads only? It is so because white beads depict spotless purity. Thus it
teaches us to rise above the blemishes of passion, anger, greed, ego,
lust, envy, enimity etc. and make our mind as spotless as the beads.
Similar teaching are given by the the lotus seat and swan vehicle of the
Goddess Saraswati.
This chapter
contains 11 sections:
Worship of Lord Vishnu is
extremely essential for those who wish to receive the supreme salvation.
A common rule of worship is that the worshipper must essentially have
the virtues of the worshipped. Hence, Lord Vishnu gives his virtues
through physical appearance.
SHANTAKARAM BHUJANGASHAYANAM PADMANABHAM SURESHAM,
VISHWADHARAM GAGAN SADRISHAM MEGHAVARNAM SHUBHANGAM|
LAKSHMIKANTAN KAMALNAYANAM YOGIMIRDHYANA GAMYAM,
VANDE VISHNUM BHAVA BHAYAHARAM SARVA LOKAIKNATHAM ||
Meaning:
I worship that Lord Vishnu who has a peaceful body (postures); who rests
on Sheshanaga (the mighty serpant - cobra); who has a lotus in his
navel, who is the base of the world, who is like the sky; who has a
colour like cloud, who is the lord of Lakshmi (wealth); who has eyes
like lotus; who is seen by yogis in their meditation; who is the remover
of all the differences and who is the only Lord of all the three Lokas
(Worlds), I worship such Lord Vishnu.
It is a common principle the
worshipper should be a Deva (God) first and worship the God then, Let us
reflect the appearance of Lord Vishnu in light of this principle. The
first virtue of Lord Vishnu is his peaceful appearance. Hence his
worshipper must also acquire peaceful appearance. This is also the need
of the hour in the world that is presently full of conflicts, disputes,
tensions and all that could pose a potential danger to the earth itself.
Despite having all kinds of wealth and luxuries people are devoid of
peace. Hence, all the worshippers who want peace, must first reflect the
peaceful appearance of Lord Vishnu.
The second virtue (resting on the
Sheshanaga) must be considered as the sub-virtue of the peaceful
appearance. Scriptures describe Sheshanaga as Kala also. Sheshanaga is
supposed to be a highly poisonous snake. But Lord Vishnu is resting on
him without fear or worries. It teaches us not to lose patience even
while facing the kala itself; instead one must strive to ride on it,
only then can one remain in peaceful appearance. If the fear overpowers
you, it may shatter your peace. The worshippers who want salvation are
being indicated to be peaceful in every circumstances.
The third virtue of Lord Vishnu
is that he bears a lotus on his navel,hence he is also known as
Padmanabham. From the lotus rises Lord Brahma. Brahma has only royal
virtues (Rajoguna). Thus to remain in peaceful form Lord Vishnu has
discarded all the royal virtues through his navel. Similarily he has
made the snake, which has Tamoguna (virtue of darkness), his seat, Thus
only Satoguna (Virtue of the truth) remains with him, and God became
Shantakaram (acquired a peaceful form). Hence, if a worshipper wishes to
be in peaceful form, he must first discard the virtues of royality and
darkness.
Before attempting to solve the
problems, let us first give a thought to the oceans also. All the
oceans, as we know are huge bodies of Saline water. How is then the sea
of milk? A couplet of Chanakyaneeti explains it thus :
KA CHINTA MAM JIVANE YADI HARIIVISHVAMMBHARO GEEYATE,
NO CHEDARBHAKA JIVANAY JANANISTANYAM KATHM NIRMYET |
ITYALOCHYMUHURMUHURYADUPATE LAKSHMIPATE KEWAL
TVATPADAMSHUJASEVANEN SATATAM KALOMAYA NEEYATE ||
Meaning:
If God Hari Vishnu is known as VISHVAMBHAR (feeder of the world) I need
not worry for anything in the world. If he were not there, where the
milk would come from in the breast of a mother before child's birth. So
God filled the breast of a new mother with complete food that is milk.
It is clear from the
above example that Lord Vishnu assumes different forms just to feed all
the creatures in the world, of these different forms of the God, the
milk is one. Acording to another principle of scriptures, God is present
in every grain. Hence he is also present in the milk also. It is also
the supreme duty of the humankind to maintain the original pure form of
the milk, because the milk is prone to damage quickly. Similarily, all
these desirious of Salvation, must follow Vaishnava religion, otherwise
any deviation in it may damage all of their penance.
The famous Sudarshana Chakra
(wheel) is whirling on the finger of Lord Vishnu. Through this wheel,
God teaches the human kind that the cycle of the universe is whirling at
his will. If anybody tries to go against his will (i.e. wheel) or gives
up religion and begins to behave irreligiously, I will whirl him like
the wheel or punish him with the wheel.
White colour and sound are the
main virtues of the conch. Through the colour of the conch, God Vishnu
teaches us to follow the path of the truth. The sound is like a warning
call that is if path of truth is not followed, the violater will be
challenged and punished. Thus. Either by fear of by any other thing, ome
must follow the path of truth.
Kaustubha is the best jewel among
all the gems. One who bears it, must be gentle, knowledgable, virtuous
etc. Thus, bearing Kaustubha Mani, God preaches the common people that
if they wish to develop all these virtues in them, they will have to
move towards this gem once advanced, they will feel the eternal light in
life and desired unification with God and ultimate salvation.
Mace is a weapon that shows and
dares for the physical strength. It was used by the fighters to
demonstrate their strength. Among all the ancient weapons, mace was the
main. It application is profusely seen in the epics like Ramayana,
Mahabharata by physically powerful and strong characters like Hanumana &
Bheema. Thus with the mace, God warns anti social elements that if they
try to violate the sanctity of religion and torment his devotees, He
will punish them. Tulsidas too writes about the reasons for incarnation
of God.
JAB-JAB HOHI DHARAMA KI HANI…
HARHINATH SAJJANA KAI PEERA |
God takes various incarnations to
protect his devotees.
Garuda (eagle) is said to be the
king of the birds. It is the fearest of bird. Thus God is assuring his
devotees to be fearless, because if any calamity befell them, he will
reach them in no time.
This chapter
contains 3 sections:
Goddess Lakshmi presents an
example of an ideal spouse before the world.The supreme duty of a woman
is described in the service of her husband. Second aspect of the message
is for the people who want to get rich, that if they want the wealth,
they must develop a devotion for the feet of Narayana, for Lakshmi
(Goddess of wealth) is to be found there and no where else.
The better half of Lord Vishnu
can never be freakish, because Satoguna is the main virtue of Lord
Vishnu. In the proxmity of God whose main virtue is Satoguna, no one can
remain freakish. But the material wealth, that is Gold, and silver, have
mobility as their main virtue. Thus the rich people who have these
wealths may be freakish, but not Lakshmi the beloved of God Vishnu.
Owl is the vehicle of goddess
Lakshmi. An owl can't see in the day, Hence, Lakshmi visits the house of
those devotees who only worship her, on her vehicle owl. And she visits
the home of those devotees who worship Lord Vishnu first and then her,
with Vishnu riding his vehicle Garuda.
It also implies that at places where black-money is main, Lakshmi rides
an owl. Such a wealth can't be put in the service of nation, people
religion etc, or in any worthy task, instead it is squandered in
abhorant deeds. Since owl is a bird that sees in the darkness alone, and
darkness sumbolizes ignorance. Because of ignorance, money is generated
in wrong ways and spent in wrong deeds. Thus owl is a symbol of black
money and misdeeds.
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