Category Archives: Devi Bhagavatham

Particles : The Very Small (sukshma) and The Very Fast (vega) : Photons : Lakshmi, Devi, Sarva Chaitanya, Atman

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Everyone knows that, Hanuman, the son of the wind, vayu deva, is the fastest. Right? Well, the Isa Upanishad, tells us of one so fast that even the Devas could not catch up with That. (na enat devAh aapnuvan pUrvam arSat : Isa Vasya Upanishad). The Kena Upanishad tells us that Uma Haimavati, appeared in the very same place and explained the nature of  ”That” Brahman to Indra. Some think of Her as Brahmavidya. The Devi Bhagavatam tells us that She herself is the Brahman.

Okay.

We have thus far identified Lakshmi Devi, who is an aspect of Devi, with Light. (All the links to the previous posts on this topic are at the bottom of this page. Please read them before debating.)

And we have learnt from physics, that Light is the fastest of all. We can’t catch up with light.

Light is made up of massless particles called photons. The moment a photon is created, it quickly accelerates to c = 3*10^8 m/s

Nothing can go faster than a massless particle in vaccuum!! 

And thus Lakshmi Devi, Light,  who “is never still in one place”, is the fastest one in the Universe., and also the ‘lightest’! Only “he who is everywhere”, Vishnu, can be her darling, Lakshmikantha.

Of course, by “tat”,  the Isa Upanishad refers to the Atman, the Brahman, which is Sarva Chaitanya or Devi as per Sankaracharya (Tat Tvam Asi) and as per Devi Bhagavatham.

And we have previously considered that the bio-chemical-electrical activity of the brain which we understand as consciousness or Chaitanya is also an aspect of the Devi. But these nerve signals are not as fast as sound or light. The fastest recorded wind speed is 113 m/s and the fastest nerve signal is 120 m/s, so Chaitanya is certainly faster than Vayu Deva, though not by very much. :)

Common Sense is a poor guide in the domains of the very fast and the very small.

For many thousands of years, humans have studied the rules that govern objects and activities on our scale.

Then we discovered that all the rules we framed are not highly accurate or highly truthful but they serve as Excellent Approximations in our scale of things, in our frame of reference.  Things change drastically on other scales, where these approximations and methods are invalid.

  • For an ordinary human being, light is extremely fast, for an astronomer, light just ambles along taking years to reach from the stars to the earth.
  • For a particle physicist, c, the speed of light, is a convenient unit of speed.
  • While astronomers like to use parsecs (3.26 light years) as a unit of distance and we would like to use km, particle physicists use 10^-15m (a femtometer or fermi) as a unit of distance. 1 fermi is about the size of a proton.
  • The time it takes a particle to cross the nucleus is 10^-23s. The typical lifetime of a long lived particle is 10^-10s.
  • 1 C, a coulomb of charge can light a lamp for 1 s. A proton and an electron have 1.6*10^-19 C of charge.
  • The unit for mass is kg and energy is Joule at our scale.
  • Because of the mass-energy equivalence, we use the same units for mass and energy when talking about particles, the electron volt. 1 eV = 1.6*10^-19 J. So when we say that the mass of a proton is 1 GeV or the mass of an electron is half a MeV., we know that we are talking about the equivalent mass of that much energy.
  • The spin force or spin of an electron is about 10^-34kgm^2/s.

We need not only different units of measurement, but different methods of measurement at such tiny scales. And there are limitations on such methods, which lead us to all sorts of new rules., which we shall look at over time.

Reference for the Quantum concepts above : The Quantum World : Kenneth W. Ford

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

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Consciousness : Pragnya, Chitta, Purusha/Devi : in Science and Sanskrit Texts

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My personal perception at this time is that consciousness is a sort of emergent phenomenon. That means first stuff (‘sat’) and then consciousness (purusha, ‘tat’).

As I perceive it, a mind is the electro-bio-chemical ‘activity’ of a brain.

Think of physical layer of a computer network. All you will see are voltages fluctuating on the wires to a ‘rythym’ if you will. Every higher layer of the network, listens (responds) only to the fluctuations at specific pre-determined time intervals, and ignores all other data. Into the arrangement of these voltage fluctuations (bits) is encoded all the information in the world. Some hardware cares about addresses and switching and some other about decoding and so forth. The final meaning of these words I type is ‘known’ to your human brain. 

Think of waves on the sea, that are made of water and are in the sea and yet are not water. It is their movement., their activity itself that makes them a wave.

Think of the sound waves or electromagnetic waves. Our brain activity “reads meanings” into the sounds and lights that our senses detect. And it puts out information into the sounds and expressions we make for other living beings to make sense of.

Think of us.

What do we, human beings, do? We bridge synapses, the gaps between neurons in our brains, when we learn. We transfer our “brain patterns” or thought processes to others, when we teach, write converse etc.  We alter the landscape of the earth and create new materials : molecules like plastic, new intelligent beings : robots and computers. We put small objects like satellites in space which serve to transmit information among ourselves using electromagnetic radiation.

In addition to transforming the appearance of our earth’s crust and sending new plastic materials (satellites) into space (our solar system)., we Actively Observe Others in the Universe and Ourselves, forming impressions that explain the world. We learn, we are conscious and we have at least the illusion of free will. We recognise this consciousness in other living beings.

Sankaracharya in his vakyavritti of  Tat Tvam Asi, says that Tat, the Brahman and Tvam the jeevatma are one and the same and that both are of the form of cit (consciousness).

 I bow to my Guru, by whose grace I learned my true nature (Atma Rupam), that I alone am Vishnu and everything is superimposed on me. 

Why don’t you recognise yourself?  The vigraha (embodiment) of *Caitanya (enlightened consciousness), Ananda Rupa (of the form of joy), **Satya (Existence), the Sakshi (witness) of the Antah Karana (Inner Ear – Inner Sensor)  and tat vritti (its modifications).

You are your Caitanyam (enlightened consciousness), which is true, joyful and a witness to your mind.

Know that you are not your body, your senses, your life or your mind or a combination of both. You are a witness to them.

You (Tvam) are the knower of your body and mind and their behaviour, while awake or asleep. You are what makes them appear as if they were conscious. You are that for whose sake other things become dear. You are that which desires never to die and to always be eternal. You are the Knower, the Witness and You are unchanging.

Tat refers to the Brahman discussed in the Vedas and the Upanishads, as the infinite (ananta), the knower of all (sarvagnya), flawless, untainted, subtle, invisible, the greatest joy, truth and consciousness, the supreme, competent, controller, knowing which everything is known, the cause of Prapancha (Universe, Expansion), the goal of the seekers of freedom, which enters creation as the Jiva Atma, which causes our actions and gives us the fruit of our actions.

Maya (Illusion) is the Upadhi for Brahman, it is mistaken for the Brahman, as your body-mind is mistaken for you.

If the meaning of either Tat or Tvam is mistaken (as Maya or the body-mind), then the identity Tat Tvam Asi fails. When Tat (Brahman) and Tvam (Pratyak Bodha) are correctly identified with Sat-Cit-Ananda (Existence – Consciousness – Bliss), a person attains the state of Aham Brahmosmi, and stops accruing new karma. He becomes a Jivan Muktha – one who is liberated in life and need only work off the karma that he started off with. After this he will attain Kaivalyam or Vishnupadam.

Image inherited from collection

http://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/871489

 Professor Brian Josephson, is the director of the Mind-Matter Unification Project of the Theory of Condensed Matter Group at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.

Videos of his lectures.

He says, “The problem of how life came into existence is a major challenge for biology. I shall argue for an explanation involving the idea that a more elementary form of life, not dependent on matter, existed prior to the big bang, and evolved at the level of ideas in the same way that human societies evolve at the level of ideas. Just as human society discovered how to use matter in a range of technological applications, the hypothesised life before the big bang discovered how to organise energy to make physical universes, and to make fruitful use of the matter available in such universes. In addition, our various creative abilities are in part expressions of aspects of this original life.” Source

Devi Bhagavatham tells us that Sarva Chaitanya was first, then the universe: (Reference)

Reference :

At the end of a kalpa, Sri Hari (Vishnu) was lying on a small banyan leaf (a Vata Patra).

He was curious about himself and how he had come into existence and he was curious about all that was around him.

Then Devi who is Sarva Caitanya – the consciousness of all  spoke, “All that you see is Me!”. Sri Hari wondered about the voice and the words and meditated on the Devi.

Then she appeared in the form of Sri MahaLakshmi (Light) surrounded on all sides by all the  Sakthis personified. Some of these Sakthis were.. Rati, Bhûti, Buddhi (Intellect), Mati, Kîrti (Fame), Smriti(Memory), Dhriti, S’raddhâ, Medhâ, Svadhâ, Svâhâ, Kshudhâ, Nidrâ (Sleep), Dayâ (Compassion), Gati, Tusti, Pusti, Ksamâ (Forgiveness), Lajjâ, Jrimbhâ Tandrâ. All of them were beautiful and well decked.

Each possessed a clear distinct form and was endowed with a clear distinct feeling. In the hands of them all were divine weapons; on their necks, necklaces and garlands of Mandâra (Hibiscus) flowers; and all the limbs of their bodies were decorated with divine ornaments. They stood above the surface of the water without their feet touching it.

This raised a whole lot of new questions in Sri Janardhana’s (Vishnu’s) mind. Was she his mother or Maya? Was he to be a baby forever or would he grow up? Why was he on a banyan leaf?

Then MahaLakshmi reminded him that she was always his consort and after every pralaya, when srishti or creation happened again Vishnu would come into existence and marry her. Under the influence of MahaSakthi he had forgotten.

Then MahaLakshmi reminded him of what took place every kalpa : “ That Highest Mahâ S’akti (Energy) is transcendent of all the Gunas; but you and I are with Gunas. Know me as the S’akti, all of Sattva Guna (Existence) who is widely known as Mahâ Laksmî. After this the Prajâpati Brahma, full of Rajo Gunas (Light), the creator of all the Lokas, will come into existence from your navel lotus and will create the three worlds. Then he will perform severe tapasyâ and acquire the excellent power to create, and will create the three worlds by his Rajo Guna. That highly intelligent Prajâpati will create first, the five Mahâ bhûtas (great elements), all endowed with Gunas and then create mind with sensory organs and the presiding deities of the senses, and thus with all the ingredients, fit for creation, will create all the worlds. Therefore He is denominated by all as the Creator of Brahmânda. O highly fortunate one! You will be the Preserver of this Universe. When the Prajâpati Brahmâ will be angry at the beginning of the creation on his four mind-born sons, Rudra Deva will appear. He will appear then from the centre of his eye brows. On being born this Rudra Deva will practise very severe tapasyâ and will get the Samhâra S’akti, who is all of Tamo Guna (Darkness) and at the end of the Kalpa will destroy all this universe of five elements. O highly intelligent one! So I have come to you for this work of creation, etc. So take me to you as your Vaisnavî S’akti full of Sattva Guna. O Madhusûdana! I will take refuge at your breast and will remain always with you. ”

…read http://ancientindians.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/vatapatrasayi-sri-maha-vishnu-as-a-baby-devi-bhagavatham/ if you want the rest of the story…

Vishnu told Brahma : Maha Sakti is the Îs’varî  (the master) of the Îs’varas of this universe. O Brahmâ! You, I and all other things of the entire Universe are born of the Chit S’akti (the power of consciousness) of Her and Her alone; there is no manner of doubt in this. 

My Thoughts :

The text tells us that it is c’it (chitta) or consciousness that is eternal and is the cause of all that we see around us moving or unmoving. Some may refer to it as the Purusha and some as the Devi.

Devi is Sakti (Energy), Devi is Chaitanya (Consciousness).

Energy Fields (electromagnetic, gravitational) are an effect of matter. Consciousness is an effect of matter (electro-bio-chemical activity).

Consciousness is literally a kind of energy (activity) too.

Avyakta (undifferentiated) Sakti (energy), Devi (divinity) is first.

This became the vyakta (differentiated) : matter and energy filled universe.

Was that first undifferentiated Sakti – conscious as our scriptures tell us? Or did consciousness emerge from the system, in patches, later? Does the universe have a consciousness which is either same as or different from our consciousness?

Even More : Philosophies : God and Vedas in different Ancient Indian Philosophies

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Hayagriva and Madhu-Kaitabha as per Mahabharata

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We have just learned the stories of Hayagriva as well as Madhu Kaitabha as per the Devi Bhagavatham.

  1. Hayagriva : Devi Bhagavatham : Part 1 : Vishnu’s head is lost.
  2. Hayagriva : Devi Bhagavatham : Part 2 : Vishnu gets a Horse’s Head
  3. Madhu and Kaitabha : Devi Bhagavatham

As we know, the Devi Bhagavatham was picked up by Romaharshana (Suta) as Veda Vyasa taught it to Suka, his son and told to Saunaka Maharshi, who collated all of this and preserved it for us.

Now let us look at an alternate version as taught by Ugrasrava (Sauti), the son of Romaharshana (Suta), as he told it to Saunaka Maharshi, when he told them the Mahabharatam. Ugrasrava heard this when Vaisampayana, a student of Veda Vyasa, narrated it to Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, the grandson of Abhimanyu and the great grandson of Arjuna, at the time of the sarpa yagnya. Actually the Mahabharata was taught by Veda Vyasa to Romaharshana (Suta) and Yajur Veda to Vaisampayana, still it was Vaisampayana who narrated it to Janamejaya. There is also another version called the Jaimini Mahabharatam, as narrated by another of Vyasa’s students, who actually received the Sama Veda from Veda Vyasa.

The most striking feature of the Mahabharata Version, is that  there is no Devi at all in the story, and she is the most important deity the all-consciousness in the Devi Bhagavatam.

For the following story I use as my reference Kisari Mohan Ganguli’s translation of Vyasa Bharatam. (in the Santi Parva).

Janamejaya was very curious about the Hayagriva Avatar of Vishnu and asked Vaisampayana to tell him all about it.

Vaisampayana explained how Narayana as Purusha, the antarAtma or the Jivatama, created the universe and the elements and then he told hi the story.

  1. “All existent objects, O king, in this world, are the result of a combination of the five primal elements.
  2. Narayana, is the supreme Lord and Creator of the universe.
  3. He is the inner Soul of all things, and the giver of boons.
  4. Divested of attributes, he is again possessed of them.
  5. Destruction : At first, the element of Earth becomes merged in Water and nothing then is seen save one vast expanse of Water on all sides. Water then merges into Heat, and Heat into Wind. Wind then merges into Space, which in its turn, merges into Mind.
  6. Mind merges into the Manifest (otherwise called Consciousness or Ego).
  7. The Manifest merges into the Unmanifest (or Prakriti).
  8. The Unmanifest (or Prakriti) merges into Purusha (Jivatman) and
  9. Purusha merges into the Supreme Soul (or Brahman, paramAtma).
  10. Then Darkness spreads over the face of the universe, and nothing can be perceived.
  11. Creation : From that primal Darkness arises Brahma (endued with the principle of Creation).
  12. Darkness is primeval and fraught with immortality.
  13. Brahma that arises from primeval Darkness develops (by its own potency) into the idea of the universe, and assumes the form of Purusha.
  14. This Purusha is called Aniruddha and is genderless it is called otherwise by the name of Pradhana (Supreme or Primary).
  15. That is also known by the name of Manifest, or the combination of the 3 gunas.
  16. He exists with Knowledge alone for his companion.
  17. That  Being is called by the name of Viswaksena or Hari.
  18. Yielding to Yoga-nidra, he lays himself down on the waters.
  19. He then thinks of the Creation of the Universe of diversified phenomena and fraught with immeasurable attributes.
  20. While engaged in thinking of Creation, he recollects his own high attributes. From this springs the four-faced Brahma representing the Consciousness of Anirudha. The illustrious Brahma, otherwise called Hiranyagarbha, is the Grandsire of all the worlds.
  21. Endued with eyes like lotus petals, he takes birth within the Lotus that springs from (the navel of) Anirudha.
  22. Seated on that Lotus, Brahma of wonderful adopts the attribute of Satwa Brahma, otherwise called Parameshthi, then commences to create the universe.

Naryana’s eyes fell on a couple of drops of water within the lotus. Then the Daitya Madhu was born of a honey like drop and called Madhu, at the will of Sri Hari, with tamas as his guna. And from the other drop which was hard, sprang the daitya Kaitabha, with the rajo guna.

These two Asuras, walked around that lustrous lotus with their maces – and came up on Brahma intently creating the Vedas. They snatched the Vedas and madea run for it. Brahma was very unhappy and complained to Vishnu. He said that the Vedas were the very Brahman to him and prayed Hari to give them back to him.

Brahma praised Vishnu in the following terms.

  1. I bow to thee, O heart of Brahman.
  2. I bow to thee that hast been born before me. Thou art the origin of the universe. Thou art the foremost of all abodes. Thou, O powerful one, art the ocean of Yoga with all its branches.
  3. Thou art the Creator of both what is Manifest and what is Unmanifest.
  4. Thou treadest along the path whose auspiciousness is of inconceivable extent.
  5. Thou art the consumer of the universe.
  6. Thou art the Antaralok (Inner Soul) of all creatures.
  7. Thou art without any origin. Thou art the refuge of the universe.
  8. Thou art self-born; for origin thou hast none that is not thyself.
  9. As regards myself, I have sprung through thy Grace. From thee have I derived my birth.
    1. My first birth from thee, which is regarded sacred by all regenerate persons, was due to a fiat of thy Mind.
    2. My second birth in days of yore was from thy eyes.
    3. Through thy Grace, my third birth was from thy speech.
    4. My fourth was from thy ears.
    5. My fifth birth, excellent in all respects, was from thy nose.
    6. O Lord, My sixth birth was, through thee, from an egg.
    7. This is my seventh birth. It has occurred, O Lord, within this Lotus, and it is meant to stimulate the intellect and desires of all the beings.
    8. At each Creation I take birth from thee as thy son, O thou that art divested of the three attributes. Indeed, O lotus-eyed one, I take birth as thy eldest son, made up of Sattwa the foremost of three attributes. Thou art endued with that nature which is Supreme. Thou springest from thyself. I have been created by thee.
    9. The Vedas are my eyes. Hence, I transcend Time itself.

Now Vishnu was roused from his Yoga Nidra and resolved to get the Vedas back for Brahma. He took the head of a horse, and became as bright as the moon. His head itself was the abode of the Vedas. The firmament, with all its luminaries and constellations, became the crown of his head. His locks of hair were long and flowing, and had the splendour of the rays of the Sun. The regions above and below became his two ears. The Earth became his forehead. The two rivers Ganga and Saraswati became his two hips. The two oceans became his two eye-brows. The Sun and the Moon became his two eyes. The twilight became his nose. The syllable Om became his memory and intelligence. The lightning became his tongue. The Soma-drinking Pitris became, his teeth. Goloka and Brahmaloka, became his upper and lower lips. The terrible night that succeeds universal destruction, and that transcends the three attributes, became his neck.

http://www.weare1.us/seven_chakras_115.htm

Then he went to the regions below to find Madhu and Kaitabha. Through a high Yoga, through a voice regulated by the Siksha Vedanga, he chanted the Veda Mantras loudly. His pronunciation was distinct and reverberated through the air, and was sweet in every respect. The sound of his voice filled the nether region from end to end. Endued with the properties of all the elements, it was productive of great benefits.

The asuras threw the Vedas into the regions below to (hide them) and followed the source of the sound of the Veda Mantras. Sri Hayagriva who was in the nether regions already quickly picked up the Vedas and took them over and gave them to Brahma. The asuras could not find the source of the sound they had followed and when they went back for the Vedas they were gone. They came back to the lotus and found Aniruddha in deep Yoganidra, his face as bright as a moon and lying on ananta (infinity) sarpa.

They loudly wondered whether this was the one who had taken the Vedas back from them and in doing so, they roused Sri Hari. Vishnu understood that the two Danavas intended to have an encounter with him in battle. Beholding the two foremost of Asuras prepared to do battle with him, he also set his mind to gratify that desire of theirs. Then  there was a battle  and the Asuras Madhu and Kaitabha who were embodiments of the attributes of Rajas and Tamas were slain. Narayana thence came to be called by the name of Madhusudana (slayer of Madhu). Having compassed the destruction of the two Asuras and restored the Vedas to Brahma, the Supreme Being dispelled the grief of Brahma. Aided then by Hari and assisted by the Vedas, Brahma created all the worlds with their mobile and immobile creatures.

My thoughts : To me this is very clearly a yogic narration. Historically Sri Vishnu may have killed two daityas Madhu and Kaitabha who tried stealing the Vedas.

But this narration with the sahasrara kamala in which Brahma resides, with the Vedas as his Brahman, where the Jivatama or Purusha has to defeat the tamasik  Madhu (sweet)  and rajasik kaitabha (fraud/ insect), by chanting the Veda Mantras in order to rescue the Vedas from the nether regions and restore them to the top of the head.

Also look at the the 7 births of Brahma and the places from where he took birth, (in his praise of Vishnu.)

For more thoughts in this line see : Padmasana, Padmanabha : Literal (Lotus Stalk), Yogic (Spinal Cord)

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