Meaning Behind The Madhu Kaitabha Story by Narasimha

[Guest guest]

Namaskaar Sri Narasimha

 

Beautifully explained. I wish you the best in your learning. I am forwarding

this to other forums too.

 

Thanks and Regards

Bharat

 

 

On 5/29/06, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr (AT) charter (DOT) net> wrote:

>

> Namaste learned friends,

>

> Someone queried a while back on the meaning behind the story of Madhu

> Kaitabha. Here is a quick reply based on my limited understanding.

>

> * * *

>

> Madhu means honey. "Madhu keeta" means an insect of honey, i.e. honey bee.

> Madhu kaita means belonging to honey bees. It can be the qualities or nature

> of honey bees. One of the meanings of "bha" is "having a similarity to".

> Thus, in my judgment, "Madhu Kaitabha" means "having a semblance to the

> nature of honey bees".

>

> * * *

>

> Like I keep saying, Sanskrit is a fantastic language. Sanskrit names

> selected by Rishis for expressing various concepts and stories are very

> thoughtful. Depending on how deep one goes, there are many meanings of the

> same word. Thus, Rishis expressed concepts that may have one meaning to a

> layman and a different meaning to one who is ready to understand the deeper

> meaning! I salute to the wisdom of our Rishis!

>

> I was saying the same thing at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam last weekend. When

> somebody said at an open discussion that the idea is important and not the

> name, as there are many names of the same thing in many languages, I made a

> quick point about the value of Sanskrit names. I said that Sanskrit names

> have not one meaning, but layers of meanings that can be understood based on

> the capability of the reader. Rishis used this to hide some special meanings

> and to keep some higher knowledge as secret, even though it is very much out

> there! The example I gave was of bhava and pada. Parasara described bhavas

> (houses) and how to find their respective padas (arudha padas of houses) and

> said that a bhava and its pada should be judged to see the matters of a

> house. Though he did not explain the difference between a bhava and its pada

> further and did not elucidate when to use which one, I said that the very

> choice of names is a huge clue! Bhava, which is usually translated as a

> house, also means "a thought/concept/feeling" and pada means "a symbol/word"

> used to express a thought/concept. Thus, houses are to their arudha padas

> what thoughts (bhavas) are to the words (padas) that attempt to express

> them. For example, if the 4th house shows one's happiness, the pada of 4th

> house shows the tangible articles that attempt to throw light on one's

> happiness (e.g. vehicle owned by one, TV owned by one etc). Houses

> (bhavas) show intangible/internal aspects of a matter (just like thoughts

> inside one's head), while their arudha padas show tangible/external aspects

> of a matter (just like the external words spoken that attempt to express the

> thoughts in the head). If you use the English words to translate Parasara,

> this hidden meaning may be lost! So, I argued that Sanskrit names used by

> Rishis are not like words in any language.

>

> * * *

>

> Anyway, let us come back to the Madhu Kaitabha story. As I said, Madhu

> Kaitabha means "having a semblance to the quality of honeybees". What is the

> quality of honey bees? Well, they keep working hard to accumulate the sweet

> honey! They are not intelligent enough to think about any higher things in

> life. Thus, Madhu Kaitabha are an allegory to the quality within us which

> makes us work hard, like honeybees, with a single-minded focus on

> accumulating material comforts. Like honeybees accumulate honey, we

> accumulate material objects and spend whole life working hard doing just

> that.

>

> Vishnu is a personification of the sattwa guna of the Parama Purusha

> (Universal/Absolute Being). Within us, Vishnu is an allegory to the sattwa

> guna within us. Madhu Kaitabha were born from Vishnu's earwax when He was

> alseep. The ability to work hard like a bee is not really a terrible thing.

> This ability is essentially born from the sattwa guna within us, when it is

> in deep slumber (i.e. sattwa guna covered by taamasi shakti, i.e. sattwa

> guna that "manifests" in a taamasik way).

>

> There are so many good people in this world, who just spend their entire

> lives in honest labor like the honeybees and accumulate things for

> themselves and others around them. Their sattwa is in deep sleep and Madhu

> Kaitabha born from that asleep sattva are very much active.

>

> The problem with this focus on hard work and accumulation of material

> objects is that it keeps us away from supreme bliss. Madhu Kaitabha's attack

> on Brahma and Vedas is symbolic of that. Vedas symbolize the supreme and

> liberating knowledge of self and Brahma, the carrier of Vedas, symbolizes

> the sadhana to achieve the supreme knowledge. The focus on working like

> honeybees and accumulating material objects tries to kills one's ability to

> do sadhana and obtain supreme knowledge of self.

>

> Vishnu battles Madhu Kaitabha for 5,000 years. Devi Bhagavatam even

> describes that Vishnu wondered in the middle how to defeat Madhu Kaitabha,

> as He finds them quite formidable! Even when the sattva in us awakens, it is

> difficult for it to overcome the formidable instinct to lead the life of a

> honeybee and to accumulate the material objects for oneself and others.

>

> When Madhu Kaitabha finally agree to be slain by Vishnu, they ask Him to

> kill them in a place where there is no water. They see that there is water

> all around and think that there is no place where there is no water. The

> Mooladhara, Swadhishthana, Manipoora, Anahata and Visuddhi chakras are the

> seats of earthy, watery, fiery, airy and ethery elements respectively.

> Swadhishthana chakra is supposed to control desires and hence water

> symbolizes desire. As long as there is desire, it is tough to overcome the

> instinct of just working for material objects!

>

> When they want a place that has no water, Vishnu shows his thighs. There

> is no water there and only earthy element. This suggests that Parama

> Purusha's Mooladhara chakra is in the thighs of Vishu. (Note: If Chandra

> Hari is reading this, he will probably realize that this point supports his

> view on Mooladhara! But I will not say anything more on it for now, as it is

> a totally different topic. But I do want to acknowledge that this supports

> his view.)

>

> According to Parasara, thighs are seen from the 9th house of dharma. The

> earthy element symbolizes the commitment and stability. The fact that earthy

> element came from the thighs of Vishnu shows that it is the dharma of sattwa

> guna sustaining this universe that ensures that there is commitment and

> stability in this creation.

>

> Moreover, it is apt that someone born in the ears (3rd house) of Vishnu

> found end in the thighs (9th house, i.e. 7th house of death from the 3rd

> house) of Vishnu! Similarly, Brahma, who is born from the navel (6th house)

> of Vishnu should naturally find His end in the 12th house of Vishnu (feet),

> which is the 7th house of death from the 6th house! That may be why Vishnu

> goes to sleep, when there is a change of Brahma.

>

> Thus, the instinct within us to keep accumulating material objects like

> honey bees accumulate honey finds its end in the dharma of the sattwa guna,

> i.e. when the sattwa guna within us follows its dharma. Then we are fully

> awake spiritually. Naturally, the path to self-knowledge becomes open then

> and Brahma becomes elated.

>

> Thus, the story of Madhu-Kaitabha refers, allegorically, to the instinct

> most of us have towards leading a "regular" life, working hard like

> honeybees and accumulating objects for self and others and how that instinct

> needs to be defeated by waking up the sattwa guna and allowing to perform

> its dharma.

>

> * * *

>

> Lest I am misunderstood, I need to clarify one thing. I am not saying that

> these stories are not real. These stories ARE very much real. In fact, when

> a Yogi is able to transport consciousness to a particular plane, He/She can

> vividly see these stories actually happening. The stories are as real as our

> own existence as beings made of flesh and blood is, in the normal plane of

> consciousness.

>

> What I am saying is that there is an allegorical link between various

> planes of consciousness. What is real in one plane of consciousness is an

> allegory in another plane of consciousness. If one is atleast capable of

> understanding a story as an allegory, that will serve a valuable purpose!

>

> If you did not understand my last point, please feel free to ignore it. It

> is not that important.

>

> * * *

>

> The Shata Chandi Homam we did in Chennai during March 1-7 was for a

> specific goal - relief for a spiritual master of south India from

> unfortunate legal troubles. Interestingly, after exactly 64 days passed

> since the poornaahuti of that homam, some political events happened in

> Chennai, which MAY bring some relief. We'll see.

>

> We intend to do more Shata Chandi homas, this time without any specific

> goal but just for universal well-being, in the coming years. If She is

> willing, we may perhaps do the next Shata Chandi homam in the Pune area in

> 2007 or 2008. If any of you practice reading Durga Saptashati, you can

> volunteer and help us the next time. In a Shata Chandi homam, Durga

> Saptashati is to be recited 100 times. If you can read it well, you can come

> there and contribute towards the count of 100. If interested, please start

> practicing the recital of Durga Saptashati.

>

> I heard Durga saptashati for the time in this life in October 2005 and

> read it for the first time on the morning of March 3, 2006. Still I ended up

> contributing 15 or so readings to the Shata Chandi homam. If some of you

> practice from now, you should easily be able to read a few times at the next

> Shata Chandi homam! If there are enough reciters, who knows, we may even be

> able to do a Sahasra Chandi Homam soon!

>

> Please spread Durga Saptashati reading among people you know.

>

> May the light of Brahman shine within,

> Narasimha

> -------------------------------

> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net

> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org

> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

> -------------------------------

>

>

>