Meaning Behind The Madhu Kaitabha Story/Mooladharam

[Guest guest]

Dear Narasimha ji

 

It is really great to note that you are prepared to acknowledge,what

shri Chandrahari had said regarding Muladharam.But as Tantrik texts are

pretty clear ,on where exactly muladharam is, ''Dhwajadho Gudordhwam'' -

outright dejection of Chandrahari's teachings,were (inadvertently?) an

insult towards hard work,research and sincerity.Moreso as they were

based on pramanas as compared to blabbering.

Also Sagittarius is treated as the center or root of galaxies.Everyone

was eager in dismissing shri Chandrahari, for ''misrelating'' Moolam and

Mooladharam.Only intuitive wisdom can relate,based on minimum leeds.

 

Chandra Hari said -''Mula being defined as having fixed sidereal

longitude of 2400, marked the death point and as the source of Kundalini

represented the resurrection or eternal life and thus the star came to

be personified as Mahakala in Tantra - Mrtyu and Mrtyunjaya. It also

marked the genitals and hence the genital worship of both male and

female personifications of time''.

 

Also when Lahiri committee were not sure about certain positions,and

logic -Chandra hari had given mathematical explanations based on

Suryasidhantha.His major contribution was relating pindanda and

brahmanda thereby relating moolam and mooladharam.

 

It is really great to note a shift in your approach,especially some of

your mails, regarding dwaita/adwaita.Brihaspati the Njana Sukha

karaka,though a functional malefic,is aspecting the 8th house of occult

and sun in transit was in its exaltation place as well,explaining the

shift.

 

I still have difference in opinion regarding ''Bhava/Pada

-Thought/Word'' explanation.Bhava can be loosely defined as thought - as

in Raudra Bhava,Devi Bhava.But when someone is in Raudra Bhava where is

the tangible aspect - is it somewhere else!What is Anga Kalpana- Time

and Space as per Kalpana results in Kala Purusha.When we consider lagna

rashi as Tanu Bhava - is the tangible aspect of body(Tanu) at some other

place!.I beg to differ.When Bhava is complete,it gets Murti Roopa.

 

Similar to ink becoming words,culmination of bhava becomes an anga and

hence the tangible aspect is not at another place.

In Prashna,Aaroodha is used to find the position of the querent,w.r to

the zodic surrounding him.Thus the surrounding zodiac and aaroodha is

kind of a projection/reflection w.r to the time of question.

Aaroodha Pada is thus the ''Seated Position''.Shri Chandrahari had once

explained meaning of ''Pada'' as Position - as in ''Unnatha Pada,Uthunga

Pada''.Swarna Aaroodha is the Rashi in which Swarna is seated.

 

Thanks

Pradeep

 

, "Narasimha P.V.R. Rao" <pvr>

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

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

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