Kama, the God of Love and his consort, Rati, the angel of Spring had forced the anger of Rudra himself, when he had opened his trinetra, upon being disturbed in his meditation. As a result, Kama had been incinerated by the anger of Shiva. It was only on the pleading of Vishnu, Brahma, Indra and the gods, along with a devastated Rati, that Shiva had agreed to Kama being reborn as a mortal. Later, Rati and Kama were reunited in a later era, after hundreds of years. Thus, when it was time again to disturb one of the trinity, Vishnu, in his parallel manifestation as Nara and Narayana while in intense meditation and austerities, Kama was justly worried and hesitant. He knew of the anger of Vishnu as Narasimha, and later, as Nara and Narayana, when they had attacked Prahlada, their own foremost devotee, at Naimisha, upon being disturbed from meditation.
Indra encouraged Kama to be unafraid and supported him with the three most beautiful celestial nymphs, Rambha, Tilottama and Menaka along with sixteen thousand apsaras. Kama and Rati had taken courage and arrived with the apsaras at the Sundamadana mountains in the Badri-Kedar regions of the Himalayas. Nara and Narayana had stopped their meditation on being disturbed, but surprisingly, Narayana had not become angry. He had been calm, smiling, benevolent and relaxed. He had welcomed the uninvited visitors and had blessed them all.
Nara had been surprised to see that Narayana did not get angry. Kama had also been surprised and had relaxed in the blessings from Narayana. However, the three celestial nymphs, Rambha, Tilottama and Menaka had proceeded to dance and sing, in an increasingly seductive manner, intent on challenging the vows of celibacy of the foremost of all sages, Nara and Narayana. In order to teach them a lesson in humility and to make them aware of the powers of meditation energy, Narayana had slapped his thigh and caused the manifestation of Urvashi, the ultimately most beautiful apsara, and had given her away to Indra and sent back to Alaka, the lands of the gods, with the three celestial nymphs and the sixteen thousand apsaras.
Kama and Rati had stayed back after the apsaras had returned to Alaka with Urvashi, the manifest daughter of Nara and Narayana. They were puzzled. Kama was fully aware that Nara and Narayana had been intent in their meditation and austerities for many hundreds of years. Their intense energy had taken over the three worlds. And yet, when Kama and the apsaras had disturbed them, Narayana had not gotten angry. While even Nara had shown his irritation and had been upset, it was Narayana who had kept smiling and had even blessed everyone. Remembering the anger of Rudra, and the unfortunate results thereafter, Kama was intrigued. How could Narayana have stayed calm and conquered his anger that must indeed have resulted at being disturbed in his meditation?
Nara had also been puzzled, for who else would know the power of Narayana. He could have just wiped out the sixteen thousand apsaras and others, just by the aspect of his thought. For after all, was not creation as a mere result of his thought? So, why did he permit the disturbance when they were so intent on the practice of their austerities to ensure the spread of righteousness across the three worlds? The unwelcome visitors had broken the continuity of meditation and their hundreds of years of effort.
Narayana smiled and spoke, "O Manmatha, thou are truly puzzled. You have suffered before, at the anger of Rudra, and therefore you were hesitant when Indra had instructed you to disturb me. I would have got angry like Shiva if I would indeed have been disturbed over something that I could not control. This was itself the reason for austere meditation and the result that I had sought was to control one's senses and to control one's reactions. It is in our jnana to act and not to misuse it by mere reaction."
"If I were to get angry, if I were to destroy you, Kama, then I would have failed Nara in all his efforts to immerse himself in meditation for these hundreds of years. I would have failed all the sages who have gathered in the lower valleys below Sundamadana and their faith in meditation, dhyana and samadhi."
"I had got upset with the growing ego and arrogance of the celestial nymphs, Rambha, Tilottama and Menaka. They were arrogant about their beauty and that their seductive gestures could challenge the celibacy of sages. Perhaps it could, and some sages may fall for their beauty, for after all, they are celestial nymphs. But, this is not correct. This is ego, and not an innocent presence. This was purposefully done, knowing fully enough that it was wrong. That was why I had to demonstrate to them that the power of meditation was supreme to mortal or celestial beauty."
Narayana looked at Nara and said, thus, "As Narayana, I am the source of all creation and I am the cause of all actions. If I am the cause of the actions of Kama, Rati, Rambha, Tilottama, Menaka, Indra and the sixteen thousand apsaras, how could I get angry with them? It is their intention and inability that needed to be corrected. They were keen to get my blessings, with correct or incorrect actions, and in that they were honest."
"Everyone is responsible for their own actions. Similarly, everyone causes the actions of others that are directed to themselves. Within the self, one is in samadhi, and gets awakened by the actions, good or bad, that come towards them. You can get engulfed or stay unaffected. If one reacts without thought, you are defeated before one has even begun to understand the significance of action and reaction. When you accept that the events occurring towards you are caused by your own actions, your ego would have no place."
"Brother Nara! Our meditation has not been ruined. By not getting angry on Kama and Rati, we have retained the gains that we have achieved during these hundreds of years of meditation. Ages ago, several thousand years ago, we had failed in controlling our anger against the words of Prahlada when he had come to visit us at Naimisha. We had lost all our gains in meditating at Naimisha and we had gotten angry with Prahlada who had unquestioned faith in us. Today, we defeated our anger and in that we have achieved victory over the biggest enemy that we have. This is an enemy who is always within us, and this is the toughest battle that we will ever fight. I am content that Nara, my brother, that you were also calm and peaceful. It is also your victory."
Indra encouraged Kama to be unafraid and supported him with the three most beautiful celestial nymphs, Rambha, Tilottama and Menaka along with sixteen thousand apsaras. Kama and Rati had taken courage and arrived with the apsaras at the Sundamadana mountains in the Badri-Kedar regions of the Himalayas. Nara and Narayana had stopped their meditation on being disturbed, but surprisingly, Narayana had not become angry. He had been calm, smiling, benevolent and relaxed. He had welcomed the uninvited visitors and had blessed them all.
Nara had been surprised to see that Narayana did not get angry. Kama had also been surprised and had relaxed in the blessings from Narayana. However, the three celestial nymphs, Rambha, Tilottama and Menaka had proceeded to dance and sing, in an increasingly seductive manner, intent on challenging the vows of celibacy of the foremost of all sages, Nara and Narayana. In order to teach them a lesson in humility and to make them aware of the powers of meditation energy, Narayana had slapped his thigh and caused the manifestation of Urvashi, the ultimately most beautiful apsara, and had given her away to Indra and sent back to Alaka, the lands of the gods, with the three celestial nymphs and the sixteen thousand apsaras.
Kama and Rati had stayed back after the apsaras had returned to Alaka with Urvashi, the manifest daughter of Nara and Narayana. They were puzzled. Kama was fully aware that Nara and Narayana had been intent in their meditation and austerities for many hundreds of years. Their intense energy had taken over the three worlds. And yet, when Kama and the apsaras had disturbed them, Narayana had not gotten angry. While even Nara had shown his irritation and had been upset, it was Narayana who had kept smiling and had even blessed everyone. Remembering the anger of Rudra, and the unfortunate results thereafter, Kama was intrigued. How could Narayana have stayed calm and conquered his anger that must indeed have resulted at being disturbed in his meditation?
Nara had also been puzzled, for who else would know the power of Narayana. He could have just wiped out the sixteen thousand apsaras and others, just by the aspect of his thought. For after all, was not creation as a mere result of his thought? So, why did he permit the disturbance when they were so intent on the practice of their austerities to ensure the spread of righteousness across the three worlds? The unwelcome visitors had broken the continuity of meditation and their hundreds of years of effort.
Narayana smiled and spoke, "O Manmatha, thou are truly puzzled. You have suffered before, at the anger of Rudra, and therefore you were hesitant when Indra had instructed you to disturb me. I would have got angry like Shiva if I would indeed have been disturbed over something that I could not control. This was itself the reason for austere meditation and the result that I had sought was to control one's senses and to control one's reactions. It is in our jnana to act and not to misuse it by mere reaction."
"If I were to get angry, if I were to destroy you, Kama, then I would have failed Nara in all his efforts to immerse himself in meditation for these hundreds of years. I would have failed all the sages who have gathered in the lower valleys below Sundamadana and their faith in meditation, dhyana and samadhi."
"I had got upset with the growing ego and arrogance of the celestial nymphs, Rambha, Tilottama and Menaka. They were arrogant about their beauty and that their seductive gestures could challenge the celibacy of sages. Perhaps it could, and some sages may fall for their beauty, for after all, they are celestial nymphs. But, this is not correct. This is ego, and not an innocent presence. This was purposefully done, knowing fully enough that it was wrong. That was why I had to demonstrate to them that the power of meditation was supreme to mortal or celestial beauty."
Narayana looked at Nara and said, thus, "As Narayana, I am the source of all creation and I am the cause of all actions. If I am the cause of the actions of Kama, Rati, Rambha, Tilottama, Menaka, Indra and the sixteen thousand apsaras, how could I get angry with them? It is their intention and inability that needed to be corrected. They were keen to get my blessings, with correct or incorrect actions, and in that they were honest."
"Everyone is responsible for their own actions. Similarly, everyone causes the actions of others that are directed to themselves. Within the self, one is in samadhi, and gets awakened by the actions, good or bad, that come towards them. You can get engulfed or stay unaffected. If one reacts without thought, you are defeated before one has even begun to understand the significance of action and reaction. When you accept that the events occurring towards you are caused by your own actions, your ego would have no place."
"Brother Nara! Our meditation has not been ruined. By not getting angry on Kama and Rati, we have retained the gains that we have achieved during these hundreds of years of meditation. Ages ago, several thousand years ago, we had failed in controlling our anger against the words of Prahlada when he had come to visit us at Naimisha. We had lost all our gains in meditating at Naimisha and we had gotten angry with Prahlada who had unquestioned faith in us. Today, we defeated our anger and in that we have achieved victory over the biggest enemy that we have. This is an enemy who is always within us, and this is the toughest battle that we will ever fight. I am content that Nara, my brother, that you were also calm and peaceful. It is also your victory."
No comments:
Post a Comment