Puranic stories: Mercury-Moon-Jupiter story

March 12, 2004

Dear Sarbaniji,

Thanks for your kind reply and reaffirming that it is true. I have in my possession similar stories on all planets. I shall store your answer, makes me think even the Wise Jupiter did once behave like a human ). Just in a light manner i said that.

Also, I think PVRji's this particular para was very profound and made me think for quite some time as the same thoughts had come to me years back.

"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.

& even this

.. 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).

Thanking you Sarbaniji, I shall store both of your messages.

With Blessings of the Divine Mother

Sunil John

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

March 12, 2004

|| Jaya Jagannath ||

Dear Narasimha,

The concept of macro and micro cosms make me think of fractals. The more we go deeper, the

size might seem to change, but the pattern remain

indentical.

Regards

Sarajit

Narasimha P.V.R. Rao

[pvr]

Thursday, March 11, 2004

1:22 PM

vedic astrology ;

varahamihira

[vedic astrology] 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

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|| Om Tat Sat

|| Sarvam Sri Krishnaarpanamastu ||

March 13, 2004

Hare Rama Krishna

Dear Narasimha, Sunil, Sarbani & others,

Narasimha, what you said about the invisible abodes is very precious.

My diksha Guru in his writings says that the Puranas contain the history of the creation of the Universe, as well as the descriptions of the Divine decensions of the supreme God, the happenings of the celestial abodes, the history of the Sages, Rishis and Saints as well as the acts of Divine Grace where He gives His vision to His bhaktas.

He insists that it is NOT mythology but a Divine reality and that the main personalities in the Puranas are Divine. He says, to think otherwise is ignorance. These are not the product of the human imagination.

Even the holy rivers - the Ganga, Saraswati and Jamuna - eternally exist in the Divine abode as Divine Personalities and they received their names from the eternal Sages. The same applies to the mountains. Their manifestation on the material plane is for the devotional benefit of the souls. The same applies to the Grahas.

After the creation of this brahmand, Lord Brahma then created the Sages and the Rishis and gave them the knowledge of the Vedas and the Upanshads. The Rishis, with their Divine eyes, were able to perceive the mantras of the vedas and the mantras themselves are Divine powers.

The "stories" are leelas and are descriptions of the Divine acts, the playful pastimes of the God(s) in their Divine world. They are intended to charm the mind and bring ecstacy to those who are pure of heart. This is why we can never tire of hearing them over and over and over and over again. Each time we hear them, they become even more potent and more charming and the closer we are drawn to His Divine presence. In the human world the opposite happens. The more we hear the material stories and events, the more boring and less potent they become. Everything is like this in the material world. Once we get something, we are very soon dissatisfied and want something else. We are all aware of this fact of our lives. The charm soon wears off. The same is true of human love. It doesn't last long.

In the Divine abode, the charm is eternally increasing and their is no outer limit to it. That is His power!

The contemplation itself is satisfying. This is the nature of Hari! What should we do with our lives?

Kind Regards,

Brendan

* * *

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.

March 14, 2004

Dear Sarajit,

Yes, there are patterns that hold at various levels in this universe. This is true even at the material level. At the micro-level within atoms, electrons are going around the nucleus. At the planetary level, planets are going around Sun. Sun himself goes around Vishnu Nabhi in an elliptical orbit. How many such levels exist as we consider smaller and smaller or bigger and bigger units? Possibly infinite! We, our science and our consciousness may be able to understand only some levels in each direction though.

Thanks Brendan, for elucidating your guru's teachings. People often think that this material world is all there is to it. What they can physically perceive seems to them to be the only thing that exists. But, what makes us think, feel and do things? Isn't there more to our existence than what catches the eye?

This is true starting from the microcosmic level to the macrocosmic level. At every level, there is one material world that we can perceive and several other parallel worlds that we cannot perceive. They co-exist.

I really believe that each of us is a microcosm of the universe and all the fourteen worlds with their inhabitants find a micro-representation within us. Thus, the stories of Puranas are constantly unfolding within us. If we can't see Jupiter as a "person", it is not that he doesn't exist. He exists in a world that we cannot perceive. More importantly, he exists within us in a microcosmic form, as our intelligence and wisdom.

Take another example. Take the story of the churning of the milky ocean. The chrurning of the milky ocean represents the contemplation and tapasya that happens within us as we strive for immortality and permanent bliss. Tortoise incarnation (Saturn) represents tradition, which is slow, steady and stubborn. Our internal discipline and adherence to tradition are the basis of the tapasya or churning. The manthara mountain is the drive of our intellect. It finds basis in tradition (tortoise) and stands without sinking (without the tortoise, the mountain was sinking. So Vishnu appeared as the giant tortoise to support it). Vasuki, the king of snakes, is the latent potential. The latent potential coils one's drive and churns the milky ocean of consciousness. This whole ksheera saagara mathanam (churning of milky ocean) is the tapasya and contemplation that happens inside a tapaswi. The nectar of immortality comes from this churning. However, this nectar of immortality, which is the result of a long tapasya, should not fall in the hands of demons inside the tapaswi and should be restricted to the godliness within one. One's soul and mind (Sun and Moon) are the eyes of Narayana within one and it is their job to ensure that.

Take the story of demon king Bali. Who are demons? They are the passionate, selfish, greedy, proud, arrogant and adharmik beings of this universe. In the context of the microcosm within each of us, demons represent the selfishness, greed and pride within us. Bali is a demon king, who was a liberal giver. The rise of Bali within the microcosmic context shows being liberal and helpful and yet being very proud about it. When we indulge in good acts but are very proud about it, it is possible that the reign of emperor Bali is taking place within us. Despite the good acts, it is the asuric qualities like pride that are winning in such a scenario. As long as the godly qualities of kindness, humility, compassion etc are losing, intelligence (Jupiter - preceptor of gods) is unhappy. It takes Vishnu coming in the form of Jupiter (intelligence) to suppress such a demon king! Intelligence finally has to suppress the pride. There are so many of us, who are internally going through the reign of emperor Bali and waiting for the arrival of Vamana incarnation!!

Each story from Puranas is an eternal truth about our existence and it shows a situation that occurs within us at one time or the other and in one life or the other, because we are a microcosm of the universe. Astrology helps in understanding these correlations (for example, we know that Jupiter shows intelligence). Similarly, a deep insight into these correlations improves our understanding of astrology. Astrology, Puranas, Upanishats, Vedas etc were never supposed to be totally different subjects. They are all different aspects of the same and single holistic knowledge of the universe.

Hopefully, I and other like-minded astrologers will be able to share many more of our insights and thoughts with others in the coming months, years and lives.

May Jupiter's light shine on us,

Narasimha

> Dear Narasimha,> > The concept of macro and micro cosms make me think of fractals. The more> we go deeper, the size might seem to change, but the pattern remain> indentical.> > Regards> Sarajit> > > Narasimha P.V.R. Rao [pvr@c...] > Thursday, March 11, 2004 1:22 PM> vedic astrology ; varahamihira > [vedic astrology] Puranic stories: Mercury-Moon-Jupiter story> > 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 we cannot 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!