Puranic stories: Mercury-Moon-Jupiter story

March 11, 2004

Namaste,

Recently, somebody posted the story of Mercury's birth on either v-a list or vm list. Thanks for posting it. The story is correct, i.e. has scriptural basis.

It is the belief of Hindus that Moon, Jupiter etc and all gods exist in "person" in a space that we human beings cannot perceive. In other words, they exist in a parallel world that is made up of different matter than the matter that makes up the material world that we can perceive in this human form. Thus, we believe that the stories of Puranas are not just stories, but real. However, they apply to a spiritual world that can perceive.

However, each human being is a microcosm of the entire universe. The entire universe exists within each of us. There are gods, demons, planets, Shiva, Vishnu etc in each of us. The Jupiter in us is our wisdom, which is the teacher of the gods within us! The demons in us are sometimes stronger than the gods and we do bad things. The Venus in us, i.e. our passion, is the teacher of demons within us. Passion, spirit of entertainment and enjoyment keep the demons going.

At different points of time, different scriptural stories are unfolding within each of us!

This story of Mercury's birth mentioned by Sunil is very interesting. Jupiter is the wisdom and intelligence (dhee). Tara is the Sakti (energy) of intelligence. Mind (Moon) is interested in a union with that energy associated with intelligence. The result of the union is the learning ability (Mercury). The learning ability (Mercury) stems from the energy associated with intelligence (Tara), but it comes from the desire (union) of mind (Moon) rather than that of intelligence. But the child or learning ability (Mercury) was adopted and trained by intelligence (Jupiter). It is a beautiful story that helps us understand ourselves better.

I repeat, Hindu mythology is a metaphorical representation of deep realities of our existence. Of course, the stories may have really happened between beings from imperceptible worlds that exist alongside our own world, but one does not need to believe in this. Even if one chooses to disbelieve that Moon, Jupiter etc do exist in "person" somewhere, still the fact is that the entire universe and all of its worlds exist within us as a microcosm. So the stories of Hindu methology are eternal truths - things that take place within human beings at various times. If we understand the stories correctly, we will understand our own existence better and will also become better astrologers.

I hope it makes some sense.

I will be off the lists for a while again.

May Jupiter's light shine on us,Narasimha

March 12, 2004

Dear Sunil,

The story is very much correct and is mentioned in most of the puranas. The most detailed that I have seen so far is in the Brahmavaivarta Purana. The interesting part is that after Moon ran away with Tara, Brhaspati was in great depression and he finally went and confided his heart's woes to Indra. Indra sought Mahadev's help. Mahadev said, that Brahsapati had one time raped his brother Utyatha's wife. Consequently, he had to suffer the same in his life.

Bets regards,

Sarbani

Narasimha P.V.R. Rao [pvr] Thursday, March 11, 2004 10:52 AMvedic astrology ; varahamihira Subject: |Sri Varaha| Puranic stories: Mercury-Moon-Jupiter story

Namaste,

Recently, somebody posted the story of Mercury's birth on either v-a list or vm list. Thanks for posting it. The story is correct, i.e. has scriptural basis.

It is the belief of Hindus that Moon, Jupiter etc and all gods exist in "person" in a space that we human beings cannot perceive. In other words, they exist in a parallel world that is made up of different matter than the matter that makes up the material world that we can perceive in this human form. Thus, we believe that the stories of Puranas are not just stories, but real. However, they apply to a spiritual world that can perceive.

However, each human being is a microcosm of the entire universe. The entire universe exists within each of us. There are gods, demons, planets, Shiva, Vishnu etc in each of us. The Jupiter in us is our wisdom, which is the teacher of the gods within us! The demons in us are sometimes stronger than the gods and we do bad things. The Venus in us, i.e. our passion, is the teacher of demons within us. Passion, spirit of entertainment and enjoyment keep the demons going.

At different points of time, different scriptural stories are unfolding within each of us!

This story of Mercury's birth mentioned by Sunil is very interesting. Jupiter is the wisdom and intelligence (dhee). Tara is the Sakti (energy) of intelligence. Mind (Moon) is interested in a union with that energy associated with intelligence. The result of the union is the learning ability (Mercury). The learning ability (Mercury) stems from the energy associated with intelligence (Tara), but it comes from the desire (union) of mind (Moon) rather than that of intelligence. But the child or learning ability (Mercury) was adopted and trained by intelligence (Jupiter). It is a beautiful story that helps us understand ourselves better.

I repeat, Hindu mythology is a metaphorical representation of deep realities of our existence. Of course, the stories may have really happened between beings from imperceptible worlds that exist alongside our own world, but one does not need to believe in this. Even if one chooses to disbelieve that Moon, Jupiter etc do exist in "person" somewhere, still the fact is that the entire universe and all of its worlds exist within us as a microcosm. So the stories of Hindu methology are eternal truths - things that take place within human beings at various times. If we understand the stories correctly, we will understand our own existence better and will also become better astrologers.

I hope it makes some sense.

I will be off the lists for a while again.

May Jupiter's light shine on us,Narasimha

|Om Tat Sat|http://www.varahamihira