The Redemption of Sudarsana

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The Redemption of Sudarsana

The Upanishads declare that every living being will continue to be born again and again until liberation from the state of transmigration is attained by the realisation of the Self. This realisation is possible only in a human birth. In Mundakopanishad I.ii.10 it is said that even a human being who has performed meritorious deeds and earned a sojourn in heaven will not necessarily be born as a human being when he has to leave heaven on the exhaustion of the merit which took him there. He may be born as an animal or a bird or any other creature, or even as a plant, depending upon the nature of his residual karma. The Kathopanishad says (II.ii.7):--

One will be reborn from a womb (i.e. as a human being or as any other creature born from a womb) or even as a plant, according to his actions and the nature and extent of the knowledge acquired by him in the present birth.

There is a short story in chapter 34 of Skandha X of Srimad Bhagavatam which beautifully illustrates the declarations of the upanishads mentioned above. It is the story of a Vidyadhara (a semi-divine being) who became a python due to the curse of some sages and was subsequently restored to a form even more resplendent than his original one by the touch of Sri Krishna's foot. This story has a wealth of Vedantic implications.

On a certain day the cowherds of Gokula went, along with Krishna, to a place known as 'Ambikavanam'. Having bathed in the river Saraswati there, they worshipped Lord Siva and His consort Goddess Ambika. They spent that night on the bank of the river, in prayer and fasting. Suddenly a huge python appeared and began to devour Nandagopa. Hearing Nandagopa's cries the cowherds rushed to his rescue and belaboured the python with firebrands. In spite of severe beating the python did not release Nandagopa from its hold. Krishna then went there and touched the python with his foot. At once the python disappeared and there stood in its place a most resplendent Vidyadhara. When asked by Krishna who he was, he said, " I am a Vidyadhara named Sudarsana. I was endowed with great wealth and beauty and used to fly in my aerial car all over the world. Being very proud of my exceptional beauty, I was very haughty. One day I ridiculed some sages of the Angirasa family for their ugly looks. For this sin those sages made me take this birth. The curse that those compassionate souls pronounced on me has become a blessing to me; because of it I have been blessed with the touch of the foot of the Lord of the universe, and have been cleansed of my sin " . So saying, he prostrated before Krishna and ascended to heaven.

What are the lessons that this story has for us? In the first place, what are called curses in the Puranas are really blessings when they come from great sages who are full of compassion and do not even wish ill of anyone, let alone inflicting punishment. They are beyond praise and ridicule and are not in the least influenced or affected by them. Whatever they do is always for the good of others. If we analyse the curses appearing in the Puranas, we will find that they fall into two broad categories-- 1) those which, though outwardly appearing to be curses, really bless the person concerned by placing him in circumstances in which he is able to free himself of the defects in his character which stand as obstacles in the way of his spiritual advancement; (this can be compared to the action of a surgeon who uses his scalpel on the patient with the noble intention of curing him of an ailment which prevents him from leading a normal happy life) and 2) those which merely emphasize the fact that the next birth of a person will be in accordance with his thoughts and actions in this birth. Examples of the first category are the curses on Jaya and Vijaya by Sanatkumara and the other sages, the curse on King Indradyumna who became Gajendra, and the curse on Nalakubara and Manigriva by sage Narada. The curse laid on Sudarsana by the sages contains aspects which make it fit into both the categories, as will be clear from the sequel.

It will first be explained how the present curse falls under the first category. The Vidyadhara named Sudarsana had become very haughty because of his beauty. Haughtiness is the greatest of all obstacles to spiritual progress. The sages therefore temporarily deprived him of the cause of his haughtiness, namely his good looks and made him take the very repulsive form of a python. This turned out to be a blessing because he got the touch of the Lord's foot. Not only did he then get a form which was even more resplendent than his original form, but he also realized that what he had done in his haughtiness was a great sin. He thus became free from pride and so fit for spiritual progress.

The curse pronounced by the sages on Sudarsana can be brought under the second category also. Since the Vidyadhara was so proud of his beauty that he was contemptuous of others who were not so endowed, he would, on that count itself, be deprived of beauty in his next birth. This is what happened to him when he was born as a python. The curse only reiterated what would have happened even without it. The offence committed need not necessarily be against sages who have the power to curse. Such an offence even against ordinary persons would have led to the same result of depriving him of whatever he was proud of, in his next birth. The lesson conveyed by this story is that one should never be proud of one's wealth, pedigree, good looks, learning or any other accomplishment and look down on others not so fortunate. Every one should remember that this is not the only birth and what one has in this birth may not necessarily be his in a subsequent birth. It is the thoughts and actions in this birth that will determine what the next birth will be. If a person who is rich becomes arrogant and treats the poor with contempt or uses his wealth for doing harm to others, he will be born as a beggar in his next birth. There is no guarantee that a person who is rich in this birth will remain so in future births also. If he uses his wealth for good purposes he may have the good fortune of being rich in the next birth also. This is the real meaning of the well known saying that no one can carry his wealth with him when he dies. The same logic applies to all natural talents and gifts that one is born with. One should be humble about them and use them for good purposes. Leave alone losing in the next birth; one may lose his or her beauty or wealth or other accomplishments even during this birth itself because of illness and various other causes. We have to remember that everything in this world is transient. If this thought is always kept in mind, one will never swerve from the right path. These are the lessons that we can draw from this story.

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

Thank you sir, i thought i was humble, but your lessons here have made me even more humbler.--- On Mon, 9/15/08, S.N. Sastri <sn.sastri wrote:

S.N. Sastri <sn.sastri[Guruvayur] The Redemption of Sudarsanaguruvayur Date: Monday, September 15, 2008, 2:14 PM

 

 

 

 

The Redemption of Sudarsana

The Upanishads declare that every living being will continue to be born again and again until liberation from the state of transmigration is attained by the realisation of the Self. This realisation is possible only in a human birth. In Mundakopanishad I.ii.10 it is said that even a human being who has performed meritorious deeds and earned a sojourn in heaven will not necessarily be born as a human being when he has to leave heaven on the exhaustion of the merit which took him there. He may be born as an animal or a bird or any other creature, or even as a plant, depending upon the nature of his residual karma. The Kathopanishad says (II.ii.7):--

One will be reborn from a womb (i.e. as a human being or as any other creature born from a womb) or even as a plant, according to his actions and the nature and extent of the knowledge acquired by him in the present birth.

There is a short story in chapter 34 of Skandha X of Srimad Bhagavatam which beautifully illustrates the declarations of the upanishads mentioned above. It is the story of a Vidyadhara (a semi-divine being) who became a python due to the curse of some sages and was subsequently restored to a form even more resplendent than his original one by the touch of Sri Krishna's foot. This story has a wealth of Vedantic implications.

On a certain day the cowherds of Gokula went, along with Krishna, to a place known as 'Ambikavanam'. Having bathed in the river Saraswati there, they worshipped Lord Siva and His consort Goddess Ambika. They spent that night on the bank of the river, in prayer and fasting. Suddenly a huge python appeared and began to devour Nandagopa. Hearing Nandagopa's cries the cowherds rushed to his rescue and belaboured the python with firebrands. In spite of severe beating the python did not release Nandagopa from its hold. Krishna then went there and touched the python with his foot. At once the python disappeared and there stood in its place a most resplendent Vidyadhara. When asked by Krishna who he was, he said, "I am a Vidyadhara named Sudarsana. I was endowed with great wealth and beauty and used

to fly in my aerial car all over the world. Being very proud of my exceptional beauty, I was very haughty. One day I ridiculed some sages of the Angirasa family for their ugly looks. For this sin those sages made me take this birth. The curse that those compassionate souls pronounced on me has become a blessing to me; because of it I have been blessed with the touch of the foot of the Lord of the universe, and have been cleansed of my sin". So saying, he prostrated before Krishna and ascended to heaven.

What are the lessons that this story has for us? In the first place, what are called curses in the Puranas are really blessings when they come from great sages who are full of compassion and do not even wish ill of anyone, let alone inflicting punishment. They are beyond praise and ridicule and are not in the least influenced or affected by them. Whatever they do is always for the good of others. If we analyse the curses appearing in the Puranas, we will find that they fall into two broad categories-- 1) those which, though outwardly appearing to be curses, really bless the person concerned by placing him in circumstances in which he is able to free himself of the defects in his character which stand as obstacles in the way of his spiritual advancement; (this can be compared to the action of a surgeon who uses

his scalpel on the patient with the noble intention of curing him of an ailment which prevents him from leading a normal happy life) and 2) those which merely emphasize the fact that the next birth of a person will be in accordance with his thoughts and actions in this birth. Examples of the first category are the curses on Jaya and Vijaya by Sanatkumara and the other sages, the curse on King Indradyumna who became Gajendra, and the curse on Nalakubara and Manigriva by sage Narada. The curse laid on Sudarsana by the sages contains aspects which make it fit into both the categories, as will be clear from the sequel.

It will first be explained how the present curse falls under the first category. The Vidyadhara named Sudarsana had become very haughty because of his beauty. Haughtiness is the greatest of all obstacles to spiritual progress. The sages therefore temporarily deprived him of the cause of his haughtiness, namely his good looks and made him take the very repulsive form of a python. This turned out to be a blessing because he got the touch of the Lord's foot. Not only did he then get a form which was even more resplendent than his original form, but he also realized that what he had done in his haughtiness was a great sin. He thus became free from pride and so fit for spiritual progress.

The curse pronounced by the sages on Sudarsana can be brought under the second category also. Since the Vidyadhara was so proud of his beauty that he was contemptuous of others who were not so endowed, he would, on that count itself, be deprived of beauty in his next birth. This is what happened to him when he was born as a python. The curse only reiterated what would have happened even without it. The offence committed need not necessarily be against sages who have the power to curse. Such an offence even against ordinary persons would have led to the same result of depriving him of whatever he was proud of, in his next birth. The lesson conveyed by this story is that one should never be proud of one's wealth, pedigree, good looks, learning or any other accomplishment and look down on others not so fortunate.

Every one should remember that this is not the only birth and what one has in this birth may not necessarily be his in a subsequent birth. It is the thoughts and actions in this birth that will determine what the next birth will be. If a person who is rich becomes arrogant and treats the poor with contempt or uses his wealth for doing harm to others, he will be born as a beggar in his next birth. There is no guarantee that a person who is rich in this birth will remain so in future births also. If he uses his wealth for good purposes he may have the good fortune of being rich in the next birth also. This is the real meaning of the well known saying that no one can carry his wealth with him when he dies. The same logic applies to all natural talents and gifts that one is born with. One should be humble about them and use them for good purposes. Leave alone losing in the next birth; one may lose his or her beauty or wealth or other accomplishments even

during this birth itself because of illness and various other causes. We have to remember that everything in this world is transient. If this thought is always kept in mind, one will never swerve from the right path. These are the lessons that we can draw from this story.

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

As our revered Sastriji has pointed out, every curse by a great person

is a blessing in

disguise. Any story of a curse in the Bhagavatam turns out finally to

be a blessing. If we analyse the instances where even Sage Durvasa,

whom we all consider to be "wrath incarnate" and who is considered to

be fond of pronouncing curses at the slightest provocation, have

ultimately turned

out to be doing only good.

 

Regards

KVG.

 

 

S.N. Sastri wrote:

 

 

 

The Redemption of Sudarsana

The Upanishads declare that every living being will continue

to be born again and again until liberation from the state of

transmigration is attained by the realisation of the Self. This

realisation is possible only in a human birth. In Mundakopanishad

I.ii.10 it is said that even a