AN INTRODUCTION TO HINDU
SYMBOLISM
BY
I. K. TAIMNI
CHAPTER VIII
THE CHURNING OF THE OCEAN
(Samudra-Manthana)
ALLEGORIES are used in the Puranas not only to
convey truths of a moral nature but also
those concerning Cosmic or natural processes. Some
of the greatest mysteries connected with
the evolution of life at various stages which are
part of the Occult Doctrine are presented to
the common man in the form of interesting stories
woven round Devis and Devatas.
One of the most significant and well-known stories
of this nature which is found in the
Bhagavata Purana is that of Samudra-Manthana or
the churning of the Ocean. This story
may be given first very briefly before we discuss
some of the important truths which it is
meant to convey in a veiled form.
According to the account given in the
Bhagavata-Purana, once the sage Durvasa was
returning from the abode of Vishnu with the
garland which he had received from the Lord as a
token of favour (prasada). On his way through the
Heaven world he presented this garland to
Indra, the Lord of the Heaven world. But Indra did
not take the gift with the necessary
reverence and humility and put the garland on the
head of his elephant who trampled it under
his foot. Durvasa could not tolerate this haughty
behaviour which implied lack of reverence
towards the Lord and pronounced a curse on Indra
as a result of which he and all the Devas
were driven out of the Heaven world by the
Daityas, their eternal enemies.
The suffering Devas went in a body to Brahma who
agreed to take them to the abode
of Vishnu' and intercede for them. On being
invoked, the Lord Vishnu appeared before the
Devas and promised to help them in regaining
heaven. But he advised the Devas to make a
truce with the Daityas for the time being and to
persuade them to co-operate in the difficult
project of churning the Ocean with the object of
getting out of it amrita or the Nectar of
Immortality. On drinking the amrita the Devas
would become Immortal and could then
effectively fight the Daityas for regaining their
lost kingdom of Heaven. As advised by the
Lord the Devas came to an understanding with the
Daityas and made the proposal of jointly
churning the Ocean for amrita. The Daityas also
liked the idea very much and agreed to cooperate
with the Devas in this difficult task.
The story then describes in detail the method
adopted in extracting amrita from the
Ocean, each of these details having some
significance. First, they uprooted a mountain called
Mandarachala to serve as a staff for churning and
started taking it to the Ocean. But it fell
down on the way, burying many Devas and Daityas
under it. No amount of effort could then
enable them to move the mountain further. At this,
the Lord appeared, lifted the mountain
with his left hand and deposited it on the shore
of the Ocean. Then they persuaded the king of
serpents, Vasuki, to serve as a rope in the
churning operation on the condition that he would
also get a portion of the amrita as his share.
When the churning started, the mountain having
nothing to support it underneath,
began to sink slowly and even the combined effort
of the Devas and the Daityas could not
stop this. Again the Lord had to come to their aid
and took the form of a tortoise to give
support to the mountain from below. Then the
churning started with the Devas on one side
holding the tail of the serpent and the Daityas on
the other side holding its head. As a result of
this churning different things began to come out
of the Ocean one after another. All these
were suitably disposed of by mutual consent of the
Devas and the Daityas. As we shall see
later all these things have a symbolic
significance and represent the various products of
evolution which appear in the Macrocosm or the
microcosm as these unfold in terms of time
and space.
The last to appear from the Ocean as a result of
the churning was Dhanvantari bearing
a pot full of amrita in his hands. The moment the
Daityas saw the pot of amrita, they snatched
it away from Dhanvantari's hands and began to
fight with each other for its possession. The
pot passed from one Daitya to another but no one
could keep it for a sufficiently long time to
be able to take even a sip of the amrita. The
Devas remained quite undisturbed by all this as
Vishnu had previously assured them that they alone
would be allowed to drink the amrita.
While this was going on Vishnu assumed the form of
Mohini, an enchantress, who
was so exquisitely beautiful that all the Devas
and the Daityas came immediately under her
spell. The Daityas particularly became so
enamoured of her that they stopped fighting for the
amrita and requested her to take possession of the
pot and distribute the amrita equally among
them. The more Mohini showed her reluctance to
undertake this responsibility the more they
insisted that she should distribute the amrita
among them. Ultimately, they put the pot of
amrita in her hands and requested her to distribute
the amrita as she liked, promising not to
interfere in any way.
With this promise given by the Daityas of their
own accord, owing to their infatuation,
Mohini agreed to distribute the amrita among them.
She asked the Daityas to sit in a row on
one side and the Devas on the other. So powerful
was the spell she had cast on the Daityas
that they did nothing when Mohini started
distributing the amrita among the Devas and
finished it with the last of the Devas thus
depriving every Daitya of his coveted share. It was
only then that the Lord showed Himself in His true
form and left for His heavenly abode.
When the Daityas came to their senses and realized
that they had been deprived of the
amrita by a stratagem, they became furious and
attacked the Devas immediately. A fierce
battle ensued but as the Devas had already become
immortal they could not be defeated.
When the Daityas felt that they were losing the
battle they began to utilize their power of
creating illusions of various kinds to confuse and
overpower the Devas. In their extremity the
Devas again remembered the Lord and appealed to
Him for help. When the Lord appeared the
illusions created by the Daityas were
automatically destroyed and the Daityas were defeated
and driven out of Heaven.
This in short is the story of the churning of the
Ocean. Anyone who reads the story
intelligently and with an open mind will see at
once that it is an allegory. He may not be able
to connect the different incidents given in the
story with the different aspects of the
evolutionary process as revealed by history,
science or occultism, but that the whole story is
an allegory concerning the evolutionary process in
a general way there can be no doubt. We
should not expect to find in such allegorical
stories, which are meant for the masses, the exact
formulation and representation of facts and laws
which we find in scientific treatises. In the
first place, those for whose instruction this mode
of conveying truth has been devised are not
generally capable of understanding and appreciating
facts and laws of Nature in scientific or
philosophical language. Secondly, such stories are
part of the religious lore and must therefore
use similes and symbols with which the common man
is familiar and which he can easily
understand and remember. This accounts for the
fact that the chief characters in such stories
are generally the Devis and Devatas with whom
every Hindu is familiar and for whom he has
at least reverence if not love.
There can be no doubt that this kind of mixing up
of the Devis and Devatas with the
life of ordinary human beings with all their
failings and depicting them frequently as ordinary
mortals introduces anthropomorphism in religion
and sometimes debases the concept of
divinity in the minds of those who are not aware
of the inner significance of these things. It
also gives to the ordinary man an excuse for
continuing to live his life with all its weaknesses
and compromises with evil. He is naturally
inclined to think and feel that if Divine Beings are
subject to the passions and weaknesses of human
beings and are not able to rise above them,
then the ideals of religion and morality are
really unattainable and need not be striven after
seriously.
It must be said in fairness to those who have
adopted this popular method of
conveying truths of the inner life that they did
their best to counteract the tendencies referred
to above. The importance and the necessity of
translating the moral and religious ideals into
spiritual life is emphasized again and again on
every suitable occasion and moral and
religious instruction is interspersed between
allegories and other stories everywhere in the
Puranas so that no misunderstanding may be created
on this important question. Anyway, the
almost universal use of symbols and allegories in
the representation of natural and spiritual
truths shows that the advantages of this method
outweigh the disadvantages and this is also
corroborated by the healthy influence which books
like the Puranas, etc. have exercised on the
Hindu mind. Those who feel any kind of revulsion
towards this kind of literature must learn to
read these things not with the eyes of the flesh
but with those of the Spirit. These things were
not really meant for those who had lost faith and
the spirit of reverence and looked at
everything through the lower mind completely
devoid of intuition.
It is not possible to trace here in detail the
allegorical significance of the story of
Samudra-Manthana, firstly, because the subject of
the evolution of life and consciousness is
very vast; and secondly, because those who are not
familiar both with Hindu mythology and
modern scientific developments will find such
discussion confusing. But there are a few
aspects of this story which are of general
interest or have a bearing on some problems of the
modern, world. These may be pointed out in order
to show that those who presented these
ideas in the form of allegories had a thorough
grasp of the nature of life and its phenomena.
They were not only fully aware of the tendencies
inherent in human nature but could also
suggest effective methods of solving the recurrent
problems of human life. These methods are
based on a wider and deeper view of life as a
whole and are likely to be more effective than
the palliatives which are adopted these days to cure
the maladies of modern civilization.
The following few facts of allegorical
significance in the story will be found to be of
general interest:
1. Samudra or the Ocean in the story symbolises
the Primordial, Boundless Chaos
or the Great Deep out of which all things come
during manifestation and into which they
disappear at the time of pralaya or Dissolution.
It contains nothing actually and everything
potentially. Manthana means “churning” and the
churning of the Ocean means giving it the
impulse which results in the manifestation and
evolution of all kinds of objects on the form
side and unfoldment of consciousness on the life
side. As a result of this process set in motion
during manifestation all kinds of
products—physical, mental and spiritual—begin to appear,
as if from nowhere, making more complex and
enriching the manifested Universe and
providing more and more varied and complex
experiences to souls evolving in it. The things
which are mentioned in the story as coming out of
the Ocean, as a result of the churning,
should be considered merely as illustrative of the
infinite variety of things which appear
during the course of evolution in a manifested
Universe. They are all symbolic in character as
their very names show. Thus Kama-dhenu which means
“the cow which fulfils all desires”,
obviously represents the faculty or power of
desire which has the inherent power of
fulfilment. Kalpa-vriksha which means “the tree
which makes manifest whatever you imagine
under it” clearly refers to the power or faculty
of imagination which is the basis of all creative
work. The wonderful achievement of modern Science
in producing such a large number and
variety of things by churning the Ocean of
physical matter and force are possible because
mankind has already evolved the faculties of
desire and imagination to a high degree. When
higher mental and spiritual faculties have been
evolved it will be possible to churn the subtler
realms of Nature and make manifest the Divinity
which is present potentially in man. It is in
this way that a Cosmos is gradually evolved out of
Chaos.
2. The second point to be noted in the story is
the presence in manifestation of
two opposite forces which by their interaction
(co-operation and conflict) help in bringing into
manifestation what is unmanifest. Evolution is
generally the result, of the interaction of
opposite forces. The necessity of two opposing
forces in the evolutionary scheme is due to the
fact that it is only in this way that a balance
can be maintained in a dynamic world. A single
force can maintain equilibrium only in a static
world. Evolution is a dynamic process
requiring constant adjustment of all kinds of
forces and thus requires two opposing forces in
every field of activity. These forces push each
other, now to one side then to another,
constantly arriving at new and temporary
equilibriums at different points.
These forces are symbolized in the story by the
Devas and the Daityas. In Hindu
mythology, the Devas and the Daityas are not
identified necessarily with good and evil. The
Devas and the Daityas represent respectively
forces which are in harmony with the Divine
Will and thus help evolution directly and those
which are against the Divine Will for the time
being and thus help evolution indirectly. We may
conceive of their respective functions as
analogous to the propelling force and the force of
resistance both of which are needed for
motion. A vehicle moves on a road not only
localise there is a force propelling it but also
because there is the resistance of the road. An
aeroplane driven by a propeller can move only
because of the resistance of the air.
The modern world provides many striking examples
of the acceleration of human
progress sometimes by the co-operation and at
other times by the antagonism between the two
opposite camps into which humanity seems to be
inevitably divided. Nothing has helped the
progress of modern Science so much as the
competition and conflict between the two
opposing blocks in which the modern world is
divided. The motive is the domination and if
possible the destruction of the opposite block,
but all the same this has helped evolution as cooperative
effort has not been able to do so far. Let us hope
a period of cooperative effort will
follow the present one of dangerous competition.
The story is obviously meant to show that the
presence of two opposing forces in the
world is not accidental but a necessary feature of
the evolutionary scheme, that these opposing
forces sometimes co-operate and at other times
oppose each other, and that sometimes one
side gains ascendency and sometimes the other. The
idea that the so-called evil or the forces
which oppose the Divine Will in evolution will
ultimately be completely eliminated leaving
the field for ever to those which co-operate with
that Will does not appear to be tenable. Good
and Evil, the Devas and the Daityas and all such
opposing forces appear to be permanent
features of the Divine Plan. It is only for a time
that the good can remain in the ascendant and
dominate the evil. Being only relative good it is
liable to corruption and this corruption brings
into existence an opposing force which destroys
the corrupt forms and establishes a new
order, generally with an interim ascendency of the
opposing and sometimes cruel and evil
force. This see-saw movement of opposing forces
seems to be inherent in the natural
processes and is an aspect of that eternal rhythm
which brings about the rise and fall of
civilizations, the growth and decay of world
movements and the ascendency and decline of
ideologies. Nothing is and can be permanent in the
realm of space and time. All is change,
accompanied by ebb and flow. To us certain things
may appear to be permanent and we may
strive for aims with a view to bring about
permanent states but this is only because our span
of life is so short, our vision is so myopic and
our mind is so limited. We might as well try to
make the oceans stop the ebb and flow of tides.
This does not mean that we should not try to
change conditions which we consider
undesirable and should allow evil to have its way.
It does not mean that nations will always be
at war with one another and humanity will always
be in danger of being destroyed in an
atomic war. Opposition and competition can be of
many kinds and at many levels and is quite
compatible with behaviour which is at least
civilized if not also human and brotherly. The
existence of this law of ebb and flow in human
affairs only means that we should adopt a
dynamic and flexible attitude towards conditions
prevailing around us and not hope to achieve
a victory for our cause once for all and then live
in peace for ever. The conflict between good
and evil, between right and wrong, between freedom
and slavery, between exploitation and
justice, between love and hate is to be taken as
eternal for all practical purposes and we have
to be eternally vigilant.
3. The third point worth noting in this
allegorical story is that special help is
always given by the Divine forces at the back of
evolution whenever the evolutionary process
is blocked. Vishnu helped in moving the mountain
to the shore of the Ocean when the
combined strength of the Devas and the Daityas
could not do it. He again prevented the
mountain from sinking m the Ocean by taking the
form of a tortoise and giving it support
from beneath. He used His power of Illusion in
preventing the Daityas from taking amrita
(the Nectar of Immortality) and becoming immortal.
This illustrates and symbolizes the fact
that Divine intervention always takes place either
in the form of a movement or an Avatara
whenever there is a great crisis in human affairs
and either the world order is threatened with
destruction by the ascendency of evil forces or
there is an insuperable block in the path of
orderly progress. Divine intervention is needed in
such cases to remove the block or restore
the equilibrium.
It is necessary to emphasize this idea
particularly these days when the spectacular
progress made in the field of Science has turned
the heads of people in the vanguard of
intellectual and scientific exploration and made
them not only forget that Divine forces are
playing a great though hidden part in this drama
of rapid technological and other kinds of
progress but even to deny any part to such forces.
It is thus utter lack of humility, reverence
and denial of Divinity in our affairs that is to
some extent responsible for the wrong turn
which scientific progress is taking and the fear
and mutual distrust which are dominating the
minds of people in spite of the means of abundance
and rapid progress at our disposal. We are
not immune to the penalties which go with a
haughty attitude of this kind and should not
forget the curse of the sage Durvasa which was
pronounced when the gift from Heaven was
treated lightly by Indra. Let us hope the tide of
materialistic thought, which may be
considered as a reaction to religious bigotry and
superstition, will recede in time and give
place to a more reasonable and reverential
attitude towards the hidden Deity who guides and
manipulates even the external forces from behind
the scenes.
4. The fourth moral which is sought to be conveyed
to the common man in the
allegory is the importance of remaining on the
side of Divine forces and depending upon
Divine guidance in our work. All the powers and
resources of the spiritual realms come
ultimately to the aid of those who live according
to Divine Laws and flow with the
evolutionary current. This is inevitable in a
world which is based on Divine consciousness and
guided by Divine Wisdom. Vishnu came to the help
of the Devas and enabled them to drink
the amrita even though the Daityas, owing to their
superior strength, had taken possession of
the jar containing amrita. He again came to the
rescue of the Devas when, in the final battle,
the Daityas took advantage of their power to
create illusions which the Devas could not
overcome.
Now this intervention on behalf of the Devas was
not due to favouritism but because
the Devas tried to follow the Divine Law and
sought Divine guidance whenever they were in
difficulty. Vishnu merely symbolizes Divinity and
Divine forces naturally help those who
follow the Divine Law of Righteousness and are
guided by Divine Wisdom. We should be
careful, however, not to interpret Divine Law and
Divine guidance in the narrow, orthodox or
worldly sense in which the leaders of a particular
movement or religious organization assume
the prerogative of interpreting the Divine Will
according to their own predelictions and
exploiting their followers for the purpose of
promoting their personal interests or the interests
of the sect or community to which they belong.
Only those whose consciousness is in tune
with Divine consciousness can really know the
Divine Will with certainty. But those who
have pure and unselfish motives and want earnestly
to be enlightened can also get Divine
inspiration and enlightenment through their
intuition. For, Vishnu really represents Divine
Wisdom, and Buddhi or intuition is the instrument
through which alone an aspirant can put
himself in touch with this Divine Wisdom for
guidance in his life.
The primary condition for gaining such inspiration
and guidance is a pure and
unselfish heart and the determination to do always
what one considers right and in harmony
with the Divine Law. These sublime facts of
spiritual life have been so much debased, by
those who profess to be spiritual without having
any real spirituality, into mere religious
slogans and pious platitudes that one feels
hesitation in talking about these things. But there is
a tremendous reality hidden behind this doctrine
of Divine guidance and Divine intervention.
5. The last point we may note in the story of the
Churning of the Ocean is the
question of the qualifications which entitle an
aspirant to gain Enlightenment or Immortality.
Amrita which is a symbol of Immortality is the
last product of the churning and bringing it out
was the main purpose of churning the Ocean. This
is the most significant aspect of the story
and we should consider it carefully to grasp its
importance. Broadly it symbolizes the fact that
the real purpose of the evolutionary process is to
enable each individual to unfold the powers
which are latent in him and to attain
Self-realization. But the significance of the story is not
only in the fact that the process of churning the
Ocean culminates in bringing out amrita. It
also lies in the fact that although both the Devas
and the Daityas seek Immortality only the
Devas are able to achieve it. Both co-operate and
work together closely for the common
objective until they have almost reached it. And
then in the last step although they have
striven for it equally, the Daityas miss the
coveted prize which passes to the Devas owing to
Divine intervention and help.
How truly this part of the allegory depicts the
race for Immortality between the
followers of the Right-hand path and the Left-hand
path will be seen by anyone who is
familiar with the technique and conditions for
treading the path which leads to Enlightenment
and Liberation. The followers of both the paths
tread the same road of evolution from the
beginning. Even in the human kingdom their paths
are common up to a fairly advanced stage
of development. In fact the followers of the two
paths are hardly distinguishable from each
other when they are developing their emotional and
mental faculties. They may even enter the
path of inner unfoldment together and travel some
distance together. But it is here that their
paths divide and begin to diverge. The followers
of the Right-hand path choose the path of
purification, elimination of selfishness and
development of love and compassion. They seek
Divine guidance in their individual life, try to
merge their personal will with the Will of God
and aspire to become one with Him. The followers
of the Left-hand path ignore these
qualifications which are required for treading the
path safely, and without purifying their
lower nature and making it subordinate to their
Higher Self enter the path of inner
development. They thus enter the danger zone in
which the clouding of the Buddhic faculty
takes place and the power of discrimination is
gradually lost. A man in this state of mind is
unable to distinguish between right and wrong,
between selfishness and spirituality, between
the inflation of the lower ego and rear spiritual
power. He may be dimly aware in the earlier
stages of thus going off the track, of the
undesirable consequences of compromises with evil
and the laxity of moral discipline, but the voice
of conscience is soon silenced and ceases to
warn the unwary pilgrim on the path of personal
ambition and selfish pursuit of power. He has
entered the Left-hand path and forfeited the right
to gain Immortality even though this is his
birthright. He will have to come back to the right
road, it may be after many lives of suffering
and frustration, before he can tread the
Right-hand path which leads ultimately to
Enlightenment and Immortality.
Of course this failure to comply with the rigorous
conditions of the Right-hand path
does not necessarily mean treading the Left-hand
path. In the lower stages of development
this deviation may mean only sliding back into the
ordinary worldly life and plunging with
greater zest into its pleasures and pursuits. But
if the aspirant is ambitious, has advanced some
distance along the path of inner unfoldment and
especially if he has gained some experience
of the lower psychic powers he is likely to pass
unconsciously into the Left-hand path and to
become more and more individualistic and
power-hungry. All the three lower worlds are then
open to him for conquest and only the entrance to
the higher spiritual worlds remains barred.
This door can open only to admit those who bring
with them a pure and loving heart and who
are prepared to merge their personal will in the
Divine Will.
The story not only points out that those who do
not conform strictly to the, rigorous
code of conduct and unselfish life demanded by
true Occultism lose the opportunity of
reaching the goal of Enlightenment but also hints
at the type of temptations which make the
unwary and unqualified pilgrim on the path to go
off the track. As we have seen already,
when the Daityas got hold of the jar containing
amrita and had only to take the last step of
drinking the amrita, the Lord assumed the form of
an exquisitely beautiful damsel to infatuate
them and thus make them forget their purpose and
voluntarily give up the opportunity and
advantage they had gained. Anyone who knows the
relation of the function of Divine life
symbolized by Vishnu with Buddhi, his instrument,
will see at once how apt the allegory is. If
we do not have the necessary qualifications, we
leave the path which leads to Enlightenment
not by the intervention of any external agency but
owing to the infatuations and illusory
ambitions which arise in our own mind as a result
of the weaknesses and unhealthy conditions
prevailing therein. The infatuation need not
necessarily take the form of sexual attraction. It
can find expression in so many other ways
depending upon the weak points in our character.
Whatever the nature of the aberration which makes
us go off the track, the result in every case
is the same, namely loss of the opportunity to
gain the supreme prize of human evolution
when that prize may be almost within our grasp.
For this kind of fall from the position that has
been gained is possible not only for the neophyte
but even for those who have gone far along
the path. Even the Yogis in the highest stages of
development are tempted by the Higher
Powers and can fall from those dizzy heights if
they have latent within their character,
weaknesses and undesirable tendencies which can be
aroused by external stimulus. It is only a
perfectly pure heart and an attitude of complete
self-surrender and dependence upon God
which enables us to tread the path safely and
entitles us to gain Divine protection and Divine
help when we tend to stray from it. For it is a
law of the spiritual life that those who have
surrendered themselves to God and depend upon Him
completely always remain under His
protection and are brought back to the right path
when they have strayed from it, even though
this may cause them much suffering. This is the
essential attitude and trait of character which
distinguishes the Devas from the Daityas in the
Puranic stories. The Devas also make
mistakes, are subject to weaknesses for which they
have to suffer. But their motive is right
and they always turn to God for help in their
difficulties. The Daityas on the other hand, once
they come into power, forget wherefrom they derive
their power and set themselves against
the Divine Will and the Divine forces working for
evolution.
What has been said in the previous paragraphs
should not discourage the aspirant.
Rather it should hearten him and give him great
courage and confidence in tackling the
problem of his spiritual unfoldment. It should
make him redouble his efforts to remove all his
weaknesses and perfect the attitude of
self-surrender to God. For those who are really pure,
humble, unselfish and devoted to God there is
nothing to fear anywhere at any time. These are
not pious platitudes of the so-called religious
life, but immutable laws of the inner life of the
Spirit.
In this chapter only a few features of the story
of the Churning of the Ocean have been
dealt with. Those who are interested in this
subject can read the story in detail and discover
for themselves various other points of interest
and the important lessons which it serves to
convey.
CHAPTER IX
THE ALLEGORY IN DURGA-SAPTASHATI
WE have already discussed two allegories throwing
some light on different aspects of human
life. Let us now consider another important
allegory in the Puranas which gives in a veiled
form some important truths connected with man's
spiritual life, i.e. with his relation to God
and the struggle to find God within himself. This
allegory is contained in Durga-Saptashati, a
book which is known all over India.
Durga-Saptashati is part of the Markandeya-Purana and
contains 700 verses. It is generally used in the
invocation of Shakti or Divine Power for help
in removing different kinds of difficulties which
beset human beings, individually or
collectively, or in gaining some object which the
worshipper desires for his personal
satisfaction. The proper recitation of the whole
book accompanied by a ritual is believed to
produce remarkable results in achieving one's aim
owing to the influx of Divine Power and a
large number of Hindus have recourse to this
method whenever they are in trouble owing to
illness, lack of money or some other calamity. The
question whether the use of a book of this
nature in this manner is desirable or justifiable
from the spiritual point of view need not be
considered here. Even a cursory study of the book
leaves no doubt in the mind of the reader
that the invocation of Divine Power even for
gaining ordinary worldly ends is not only
allowed but encouraged in this book.
We are not concerned here with this aspect of the
book. Our object in this chapter is to
show, if possible, that the whole book is an
allegory describing the different stages in the
spiritual unfoldment of man and hinting that the
invocation and descent of Divine Power from
within his own heart enables an aspirant to
overcome his weaknesses and difficulties and
advance further at different stages of his
progress. The idea that the story given is an allegory
is not new. Many students who have studied the book
carefully and tried to go deeper into its
meaning have sensed the fact that the story is not
to be taken literally but has a deeper
meaning bearing on the struggle which is going on
all the time between forces which help the
advance of man towards his goal and those which
retard or block his progress. Some have
even tried to correlate different features of the
story with the stages of development which
they indirectly indicate. But this has been done
in a rather sketchy manner and has not been
able to bring out fully the allegorical nature of
the whole story. This kind of work will require
very careful analysis of the whole story,
discovering the inner significance of its various parts
and their relation with the well-known stages in
the unfoldment of human consciousness, both
in its individual and collective aspects. In this
chapter we cannot do more than point out a few
salient features of the story.
Before we take up the question of the allegorical
significance of Durga-Saptashati it is
necessary to give a sketch of the story which
forms its basis.
A king named Suratha is deprived of his kingdom by
the machinations of his ministers
and a Vaishya (merchant) named Samadhi is driven
out of his home by his ungrateful wife
and children. Both of them feel very unhappy and
go to the hermitage of a sage named Medha
to seek consolation. There they ask the sage why
people in this world remain attached even to
those things which are the cause of their misery.
The sage replies that there is nothing to be
surprised at in this universal phenomenon of human
life. The Divine Power which lies at the
basis of this Universe can cast a veil of Maya
(illusion) even over the minds of those who are
learned. It is this power of Mahamaya (the Great
Illusion) which involves human beings in
the circuit of samara (transmigratory experience)
and results in their remaining attached even
to those things which are a source of misery to
them. The king then asks several questions
about this Divine Power. Who is She? Where does
She come from? How does She work?
In his reply the sage describes the nature of this
Universal Divine Power or Durga and
then proceeds to narrate for the benefit of
Suratha and Samadhi a story describing the
recurrent appearance of the Devi to help the Devas
and destroy the Daityas. We shall
uniformly refer to this Divine Power as the Devi
although different names are used at
different places in the book.
The purpose of Her recurrent appearance in the
world is best given in a nutshell in the
last two lines of the eleventh chapter where the
Devi promises to appear and help the Devas
whenever they are overpowered by the forces of
evil. The reader will see in these two lines an
almost exact reproduction of the idea in the
well-known stanza (IV. 7) of the Bhagavad-gita.
The story in Durga-Saptashati may therefore be
considered as an illustration and elaboration
of this idea or promise, given in these two books,
of Divine intervention when the affairs of
humanity go seriously wrong and threaten to get
out of control.
Durga-Saptashati contains thirteen chapters and is
divisible into three parts dealing
with three separate appearances of the Devi on
three different occasions. The story in the first
part relates to the period after a pralaya
(dissolution) when there was no creation. At that time
when Vishnu was asleep (i.e. His consciousness was
drawn inwards) two Daityas, named
Madhu and Kaitabha were born from His ear-wax and
threatened to devour Brahma the
Creator. Brahma in His desperation prayed to
Yoga-Nidra, the special Power of Vishnu which
functions during the period of dissolution to wake
up the Lord, and make Him destroy these
two Daityas who threatened His life. When Vishnu
woke up He began to fight with the
Daityas with His bare hands. But when He was not
able to kill them even after five thousand
years He used His power of illusion as a result of
which the arrogant Daityas said to Vishnu:
“We are very with your valour. Ask for a boon from
us,” Vishnu replied: “If you are pleased
to give a boon then submit to being killed by me.”
Being thus caught in a trap they thought
they could yet escape death by laying down a
condition which was impossible to fulfil for
there was nothing but the Ocean all round. So they
said: “But You will have to kill us on dry
land.” Whereupon Vishnu took both of them on His
thighs and cut off their heads. According
to the second story a Daitya called Mahishasura
was born at one time and became so powerful
that he drove out all the Devas from Heaven and
became the lord of all the three worlds. He
oppressed the Devas so much that they went in a
body under the leadership of Brahma to
Vishnu and Shiva. On hearing the complaint of the
Devas, Vishnu and Shiva became very
angry and as a result of this a light came out
from their bodies and that of the other Devatas.
All these lights combined and took the form of a
Devi whose radiance filled the whole
Universe. Each of the Devatas then presented to
this Devi a weapon or an ornament as a gift.
After the Devi had been equipped in this manner,
She began to produce a tremendous sound
which filled all space.
On hearing this sound Mahishasura gathered his
hosts and rushed towards its source.
When he reached the spot, he saw the Devi standing
there with arms extending in all
directions and holding all kinds of weapons. The
Daityas immediately attacked the Devi and
the battle began. The narrative then describes in
colourful language how fiercely the Daityas
fought, how all the breaths of the Devi were
transformed into fighters fully equipped with all
kinds of weapons and the battle raged until the
Daitya army was routed. When Mahishasura
saw that his army was being routed he took the
form of a buffalo (from which the name
Mahishasura is derived) and rushed towards the
Devi. When She saw Mahishasura coming
towards Her, She threw Her lasso round his neck
and tied him down. Thereupon Mahishasura
took the forms of different animals, one after
another, and ultimately a form with the upper
part of a human being and the lower part of a
buffalo. When the Daitya was undergoing this
transformation the Devi transfixed him with Her
lance and cut off his head. The remaining
Daityas ran away to Patala (the nether world) and
the Devatas and sages rejoiced, worshipped
the Devi and sang a hymn in Her praise. When the
Devi asked them what they wanted, they
said: “By killing Mahishasura you have already
ended our misery. But if you want to grant us
a boon, then, O Mother! be pleased to appear and
remove our difficulties whenever we
remember you in our distress. And may those who
invoke you through this hymn obtain what
they desire for their welfare.” The Devi granted
their prayer and disappeared. Thus ends the
second part of the story.
The third part of the story which is the longest
and most important from the allegorical
point, of view deals with the appearance of the
Devi for the destruction of the two Daityas,
Shumbha and Nishumbha. These also became very
powerful, drove out the Devas from
Heaven and started misusing their power more and
more. The Devas remembered the promise
that the Devi had given on the previous occasion
and prayed to Her to come and put an end to
their misery. The Devi appeared in the form of
Parvati and on learning why she had been
invoked, a part of Her was projected outside in
the form of a beautiful Devi called Ambika
whereby Parvati was transformed into another Devi
called Kalika who was black and ugly.
Two Daityas, called Chanda and Munda, saw Ambika
and went and told Shumbha
about her indescribable beauty. Thereupon Shumbha
asked Sugriva, his attendant, to go
immediately to Ambika and very tactfully persuade
Her to become his consort. When Sugriva
conveyed the message, Ambika replied: “I am under
a vow. Only he who can conquer me in
battle and thus destroy my egoism can be my Lord.
If Shumbha wants me in marriage let him
come and first defeat me in battle.” When Shumbha
heard the Devi’s reply he became very
angry and ordered Dhumra-lochana to go with an
army and forcibly bring the Devi. A fierce
battle followed in which Dhumra-lochana was killed
and his army was completely routed.
Another army was sent under the two Daityas,
Chanda and Munda, but it met the same fate.
Chanda was killed by the Devi by merely uttering
the syllable ham. Then Shumbha ordered
Rakta-bija to go with another large army. But
before the battle began the Devi sent Shiva as a
messenger to Shumbha and Nishumbha with the
following offer: “If you want to live, return
the kingdom of Heaven to the Devatas and return
with all the Daityas to Patala. Otherwise
you will be killed.” The Daityas ignored this
warning and immediately started fighting. Then
followed a fierce battle in which all the Devatas
sent their respective Powers to help the Devi,
each Power having the same form as the
corresponding Devata. The army of the Daityas was
again routed and Rakta-bija was killed.
When Nishumbha, his own brother, was also killed,
Shumbha, the king of the Daityas,
himself came to the battlefield and started
fighting with all kinds of weapons. When he found
he could not do anything he taunted the Devi thus:
“You are very proud of your valour but
your success is due solely to the help you are
getting from the other Powers.” The Devi
replied: “I am One. There is no one else besides
me. Look! they are all my own expressions
and I am taking them back into myself. I will now
fight thee alone.” When She said this all
the Powers which had been sent to Her by the
different Devatas disappeared and the Devi was
left alone. Then followed an individual battle
between the Devi and Shumbha in which all
kinds of weapons were used. But ultimately even
weapons were discarded and the fight went
on with fists, etc. In the last stage of this
fight Shumbha jumped up and vent into the Akasha
(sky) and the fight went on until he was killed.
When the Daityas were finally defeated the Devatas
offered to the Devi one of the
most beautiful and philosophically profound hymns,
perhaps the best in the whole book. This
hymn throws light on the different aspects of
Divine Power in its philosophical and religious
aspects and raises the heart of the devotee to the
highest state of exaltation. The tone of the
hymn also shows that the attitude of the Devas had
been raised from the personal to the
universal level. After the hymn the Devi promised
to appear and destroy the forces of evil
whenever this was necessary, made a few
predictions, and disappeared.
Thus ends the story narrated by the great sage
Medha before Suratha and Samadhi.
The sage advised them to take refuge in the same
Divine Power to get rid of the illusions and
consequent attachments. After hearing this story
both of them realized the futility of pining
for the world and its enjoyments and decided to
retire to the banks of a nearby river and
perform tapasya (austerities) so that they could
also get a vision of the Devi. When they had
completed their sadhana and were ready, the Devi
appeared before them and asked them what
they wanted. Suratha who had lost his kingdom
prayed that he might be helped to regain it
and rule over it without attachment. Samadhi
wanted nothing except Moksha or Liberation.
The prayers of both were granted by the Devi and
She then disappeared.
Thus ends the story of Durga-Saptashati in its
external aspect. Anyone who reads it
can see easily that it is an allegorical
presentation of some truths and without such inner
significance it would be a meaningless
mythological story with no relation to the facts of real
life. But while this will be clear it will not be
easy to decipher the allegory and correlate it
with the truths which it seeks to convey.
Those who have some knowledge of the different
stages in the unfoldment of human
consciousness will see immediately that the story
in Durga-Saptashati seeks to give in an
allegorical form the liberation of human
consciousness from the illusions, limitations and
attachments of the lower worlds. These limitations
and illusions are a necessary part of the
evolutionary process through which the embryonic
soul has to pass before it is fit to undertake
the struggle with these limitations and illusions
and to realize its true Divine nature which
leads to its Liberation. The jivatma (individual
soul) is essentially Divine but in its descent
into the lower worlds of manifestation loses the
awareness of its Divine nature and its
evolution in these worlds takes place in a state
of spiritual darkness. When, as a result of
having reached a fairly high stage of mental
development and maturity, it is fit to enter the
field of spiritual evolution it faces its first
difficulty on this path. The personality, through the
instrumentality of which this spiritual evolution
has to take place, is cut off from its Divine
source and is not even aware that it has a Divine
origin and a Divine destiny to fulfil. Its
Buddhi or intuition has not begun to function,
viveka (discrimination) is not yet born and so in
spite of its readiness for the higher stages of
evolution and in spite of the intellect being highly
developed, the spiritual soul remains imprisoned
within the unenlightened and wayward
personality and there is no means of redeeming it.
Two dangers especially threaten it: the
eternal pursuit of pleasure and power by the
personality. It is under these conditions of
spiritual pralaya that the Higher Mind which is a
bridge between the lower and the Higher
Self appeals to the Universal Wisdom represented by
Vishnu to enlighten the personality and
thus make spiritual evolution possible.
The first part of the story obviously represents
this stage. Brahma who symbolizes the
Universal Mind and is represented by the Higher
mind in the microcosm prays to Vishnu to
destroy the two enemies, Madhu and Kaitabha. The
awakening of Vishnu is obviously the
birth of discrimination in the personality. When
the light of Buddhi irradiates the mind it
destroys complacence and makes even the
personality see partially the illusions and
limitations of ordinary human life and the urgent
necessity of unfolding the spiritual nature.
The way is thus opened for the higher stages of
evolution and the redemption of the jivatma.
One interesting and significant point in this part
of the story is that it is the two
enemies of Brahma, Madhu and Kaitabha, who in
their infatuation ask Vishnu to request them
for a boon, and thus bring about their own
destruction. Does not the lower mind or the lower
self in man open the door for discrimination by
directing its attention to the higher spiritual
worlds in the hope of gaining subtle pleasures and
greater powers? It is a common experience
that people do not generally enter the path of
spiritual unfoldment directly. They are gradually
lured into it by the desire of gaining and
enjoying the pleasures and powers of the subtler
worlds—in the heaven of the orthodox religious
people, or by developing psychic powers.
This inquiry into the nature of the higher worlds
and desire to gain their experiences makes
the lower self submit to increasing
self-discipline and purification and thus opens the mind to
discrimination. And when real discrimination
appears it destroys not only the desire for the
pleasures and powers of the lower life but also
those of the subtler worlds. The desire to find
that Reality which transcends the phenomenal
world, replaces all other desires. We thus see
how the desire for pleasure and power by taking a
subtler form brings about its own
destruction and it is this phenomenon which is symbolized
by the destruction of Madhu and
Kaitabha by Vishnu.
After discrimination has developed to an adequate
degree and spiritual evolution has
been made possible the first great difficulty
which appears in the path of the aspirant is the
lower self with all its animal propensities and
undesirable tendencies of the lower mind. For,
ordinarily, discrimination gives only perception
and not control, and when the aspirant begins
to feel the need for changing his life and
treading the path but finds the lower self with all its
ingrained lower desires and tendencies blocking
his way, the struggle between the lower and
the Higher self in man begins. And it is a
struggle of a various character in which he has to
fight on many fronts at the same time and requires
different kinds of faculties and powers. In
the early stages when his pride and egoism are
still strong he depends solely upon his own
mental powers to fight this multi-front battle.
But he soon realizes that though this struggle
requires self-confidence and self-reliance success
cannot be achieved without invoking his
spiritual powers which are still latent in him. So
with the help of the Higher mind, under the
guidance of which he is carrying on this work of
unfoldment, he invokes these latent spiritual
powers and faculties and gradually learns to
utilize them in this difficult struggle with his
lower nature. And it is only when these spiritual
powers come to his aid that he begins to gain
ascendency over the lower self. True Self-reliance
is not reliance on the lower self but upon
the Divine Self who is present in the heart of
every human being. The battle is long lasting
and sometimes fierce but if the aspirant
perseveres and does not lose his faith in the Divine
Power within him the lower self is ultimately
vanquished and ceases to be an obstruction in
his path. He has still many hurdles to cross, many
subtler enemies to conquer but he has been
able to eliminate those tamasic (passive)
tendencies which resist all his efforts to bring about
the required transformations within himself.
The story of Mahishasura depicts in an allegorical
form this phase of our spiritual
development. The following points will show its
allegorical nature.
In the first place, the Devas go to Vishnu and
Shiva under the leadership of Brahma
and pray for, deliverance from the tyranny of
Mahishasura. This is an allegorical method of
pointing out that the aspirant is still in the
realm of the intellect to a great extent and has not
yet unfolded his spiritual faculties. No direct
access to the spiritual or Divine world is possible
for him and it is under the inspiration and
guidance of the Higher mind that this effort to
arouse his spiritual faculties is made. The
response from the spiritual realms hidden within the
heart of the aspirant to a sincere cry for help is
certain and results in the gradual awakening of
the spiritual consciousness and the powers which
accompany this awakening. These different
kinds of powers which are merely differentiated
forms of the One Supreme Power are needed
at this stage because of the multifarious nature
of the task which has to be accomplished and
also because the aspirant is not yet sufficiently
developed to utilize Spiritual Power in its
undifferentiated form. It is through this
composite, non-specific spiritual power working in
different spheres, which is shown in the allegory
to be derived from the different Devatas, that
the lower self is conquered and the way is opened
for spiritual unfoldment.
Two significant features of this part of the story
may be noted. The first is the different
forms which Mahishasura assumes in fighting the
Devi before he is finally transfixed by Her
lance and killed. He takes the forms of a buffalo,
a lion and an elephant in succession which
no doubt symbolize the different animal tendencies
in man. The human form which finally
comes out of the animal form is obviously the
lower mind in its earlier stages of development
when it is merely an instrument of the lower
desires and refuses to be an instrument of the
Higher Self.
The second important point we may note here is the
promise which the Devi gives to
the Devas to appear before them whenever they
remember and invoke Her in their difficulties.
This symbolizes the fact that after the death of
the lower self the aspirant is in a position to
approach his Higher Self directly and to get help
from within whenever he asks for it. This
capacity to obtain guidance and help directly from
one's Higher Self marks a definite stage in
spiritual development and is indispensable for
treading the path of Higher Yoga. As we have
seen in the allegory this privilege is gained only
after the death of the lower self, or rather its
subservience to the Higher Self. When the lower
nature in man has been controlled and
purified and serves merely as an instrument of the
Higher Self the lower self may be said to
be dead.
The third part of the story is the longest and the
most important from the point of view
of its spiritual significance. This is to be
expected because real spiritual unfoldment begins
only when the light of Buddhi or discrimination
steadily irradiates the mind and the lower
nature of the aspirant has been completely
subjugated. The first two stages merely prepare the
ground for the real work which is to follow in the
third stage.
This story again begins with the invocation of
Divine Power by the Devas although the
enemies on this occasion are different and the
invocation of the Divine Power is direct. The
Daityas against whom help is now sought are the
‘enemies’ who beset the path of the Yogi in
the higher stages of his spiritual unfoldment. Let
us consider a few salient features of this part
of the story.
The desire of Shumbha to win the Devi as his queen
when he heard of Her beauty
hints at the danger which lurks in the path of a
Yogi when he enters the higher levels of
consciousness where spiritual power can be
acquired. If there is any ambition latent in him
this is likely to be aroused and he will then be
tempted to grasp and use this spiritual power
for his individual satisfaction and glorification.
It is this subtlest kind of egoism and ambition
which find expression on the highest levels that
is symbolized by Shumbha, and the Devi's
vow in the story merely points out that only he
who has been able to destroy this egoism can
use the spiritual power. If the Yogi yields to the
temptation and tries to gain this power while
his ego is still active he comes in conflict with
the Power and fights until the egoism is
destroyed. If his discrimination is sufficiently
developed and he does not yield to the
temptation he still needs the help of that Power
for transcending the illusion which is the
cause of this subtlest kind of egoism. So in both
cases it is the Supreme Spiritual Power which
destroys the ego and liberates the Yogi from this
illusion of samsara (material existence). It is
this ‘I’, the spiritual ego which gives a sense of
asmita (separate existence) that really
encloses or circumscribes the centre of Divine
Consciousness and the destruction of the ‘I’
means the disappearance of the circumference
leaving only the Centre.
Before the destruction of the ‘I’ consciousness
can take place many other tendencies
which block the progress of the Yogi and which are
sometimes referred to as ‘fetters’ must be
eliminated. These are symbolized in the story by
those Daityas whom Shumbha sent with an
army to fight the Devi before he himself came to
the battlefield. They have been given names
such as Dhumra-lochana, Chanda-Munda and
Rakta-bija which are significant. We could try
to correlate these names with particular
tendencies referred to above but it is better not to
enter this controversial ground. For, ideas
regarding the nature of these tendencies and the
names used for them differ in different systems of
Yoga although they succeed in bringing
about the same result ultimately. So we should be
content here with the general statement that
in his progress towards the goal of Liberation or
Enlightenment different kinds of subtle
undesirable tendencies which bar the path of the
Yogi come up and are destroyed by the
Divine Power working within him. When he is free
from these tendencies he is ready for the
final struggle in which his ego is liquidated and
he stands free with his consciousness united
with the Divine Consciousness. It is only then
that he can become an instrument through
which true Spiritual Power can work for carrying
out the Divine Will. This is what the Devi
means when, in reply to the overtures of Shumbha,
She says: “I can give my hand only to him
who conquers me by superior power.”
The second interesting point in the third part of
the story is the use of certain sounds
by the Devi in killing certain Daityas. The use of
mantras or particular combinations of
sounds in spiritual unfoldment is well known.
These mantras or mystic syllables are
frequently utilized in Yogic practice for
removing, certain tendencies or unfolding certain
states of consciousness. Besides this, certain
sounds or combinations of sounds are used at the
time of initiations to bring about a temporary
expansion of consciousness. But, naturally all
these things are kept strictly secret and no one
can know them until he is ready for the
particular stage of development.
Then we come to another significant feature of the
story. It will be remembered that
after Chanda-Munda were killed another army was
sent by Shumbha under the command of
Rakta-bija. But before the battle began all the
Devatas sent their specific Powers to help the
Devi in her fight with the Daityas. On this
occasion, however, the Powers retain their separate
identity and do not coalesce as on the previous
occasion when Mahi-shasura was killed. What
does this signify? That it is only in the third
stage after the lower self has been completely
mastered and some other tendencies have been
removed that the Yogi is in a position to
develop and utilize the Yogic powers or siddhis
which are mentioned in Yogic literature. He
has not to depend only upon the general and
non-specific Power which was at his disposal up
to this time. As is well known, it is only after
the disciple has reached a certain stage of
spiritual development that he is allowed to
develop Yogic Powers systematically in the
Sadhana-Chatushtaya or the fourfold discipline for
Liberation.
It is also worth noting in this connection that
the Devi gives to Shumbha the option to
retire to the nether regions after restoring the
kingdom of Heaven to the Devas. This means
that it is dot necessary for the Yogi to proceed
to the last step which means the destruction of
his ‘I’ and liberation. He can retain his separate
identity and the use of the lower siddhis if he
so desires. But if he wants Liberation and the
Supreme Spiritual Bower which accompanies
Liberation then his separate identity or ego must
disappear. There is no other way.
The description given in the Durga-Saptashati of
the final battle of the Devi with Shumbha
throws some light on the manner in which the
destruction of the ‘I’ or the ego takes place. The
withdrawal by the Devi of all Her different forms
into Herself represents the fact that in the
last stages of the destruction of the ego which
takes place before Self-realization it is the
Spiritual Power in its purity which is functioning
and not any one of its differentiated forms.
The struggle has been shifted to the highest or
subtlest level and this is to be expected. This is
also indicated by the statement that Shumbha goes
into Akasha to give battle to the Devi in
the last resort. Akasha is the subtlest of the
pancha-tattvas (five elements) in which the
manifested world functions and the statement that
the last stage of the battle is fought in
Akasha obviously means that the ‘I’ of the Yogi is
attenuated progressively and it must be
reduced to its subtlest form before it can be
eliminated.
The last point we may note in this allegory is the
significance of the difference in the
boons granted by the Devi to Suratha and Samadhi.
This no doubt hints at the existence of the
two paths which are open to the Self-realized Yogi
after attaining Liberation. One path leads
back to the world he has transcended and he
carries on the Divine work in the lower worlds
and helps his brethren who are still struggling in
the realms of illusion and limitations. The
other path takes him out of the lower worlds of
manifestation to do some work in the spiritual
realms about which we can
have no conception.
Om
Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble Thankfulness to Sri
I K Taimni and Hinduism online dot com
for the collection)
