Shiva Mahimna Stotra

Shloka 18

Meaning:  O Lord Shiva! To burn (destroy) the demon Tripura, who was like a blade of grass to you, why did you make such a big show of having the earth as your chariot, moon and sun as its two wheels, Brahma as the charioteer, mountain Meru as your bow, and Vishnu, who holds a discus in hand, as your arrow?  Truly, the plans of the Lord, who wants to play with the objects that are under His total control, are not dependent on others.                           

Reflections:                                                                                             

In the reflections of Shloka 15 of the Shiva Mahimna Stotra, we talked about the story of Tarakasura. He was terrorizing gods and all the good people in the world. He had a boon that only Lord Shiva’s son could kill him.  After a fierce fight, Kartikeya, Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati’s son killed Tarakasura.

The Story of Tripura:

Tarakasura had three sons, Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali, and Kamalaksha. They were very upset by their father’s death. Just like their father, they started performing severe austerities to please Lord Brahma. After many years of austerity, Lord Brahma was pleased and asked them what they wanted. Three sons asked for a boon that no one could kill them, and they became immortal.  

Lord Brahma said that he can’t give immortality, and therefore they have to ask something else. After some thought, they asked, “Please build three cities in three spaceships filled with all possible worldly enjoyments: one golden spaceship for Tarakaksha, one silver spaceship for Kamalaksha, and one iron spaceship for Vidyunmali. These spaceships can go anywhere and cannot be conquered by anyone. Only after one thousand years, they aligned in a straight line at a particular time for a fraction of a second. If we have to die, then give us a boon that we die only when someone shoots all the three cities with one arrow.” Brahma with the help of Maya, the power of Brahman, made three such cities and gave them.

The three brothers were enjoying all the possible worldly pleasures. After some time, the worldly pleasures made them forget the divine qualities they had acquired through austerities and their demonic qualities started overpowering them. They started to harass and torture gods and all good people. The gods could not bear the sufferings and they all went to Brahma to find a solution. Brahma said that no one could defeat them, and they would have to die. However, no one except Lord Shiva is capable of killing them. 

The gods went to Lord Shiva and requested him to help them. Pushpadanta says that for Lord Shiva to destroy these Tripura (three cities) was easier than to burn a blade of grass, but for His Lila (play), He made the earth as His chariot, moon and sun its two wheels, Brahma as the charioteer, mountain Meru as His bow, and Vishnu as an arrow.  At the proper time, He shot the arrow and destroyed Tripura and with that all the three demons. 

There is an analogy associated with the three cities. We have three bodies: gross, subtle, and causal. Our ego resides in all three bodies. Our association with these bodies creates all our problems. To attain the highest Knowledge or the state of Samadhi, we have to destroy the ego from all three bodies. The arrow of Lord Shiva is the Knowledge of Atman or Brahman which can destroy this ego or the illusion.

Lord Shiva as Brahman is the Lord of the universe:

We learn from this shloka that Lord Shiva as Brahman is the creator, the preserver, and the dissolver of the universe. The whole universe is Brahman’s Lila, a play. Just like on a nice sunny summer day a boy or a girl goes to the beach and makes a variety of objects with the wet sand, plays with them, and in the evening destroys all the forms, Brahman with Its power creates the universe, plays with it, and at the end of the cycle dissolves It.

Realized people experience that there is only one existence behind the names and forms of the universe which the Vedanta calls it as Brahman. Actually, Brahman appears as the objects of the universe with different names and forms endowed with various qualities. It is like in an ocean many waves appear, remain in the ocean for a while, and then dissolve in the ocean.

Another analogy is that Brahman has become the hall, the stage, the light, the characters, and the drama that is played through all the activities of the universe. Realized beings see that as the Atman or Brahman, being the witness consciousness they see this drama including themselves as the characters.  Realizing this state, they can go through the joys and sorrows of life with a calm mind.  

Pushpadanta says that Lord Shiva as Brahman controls all the objects of the universe and can use them as He wants for His play.  

Ignorance:

Sri Ramakrishna says that (i) ‘Me and Mine’ is ignorance, and (ii) “I am a doer.’ Is ignorance.

Me and Mine:

As we had discussed before, in Reality, everything is Brahman. Out of ignorance or Maya or delusion, we think that we are little individuals with body and mind, separate from Brahman. Because of this delusion, we enjoy worldly pleasures and also go through intense suffering. With this ego of ‘Little I’, we select a few things of the universe and claim that ‘these things are mine’. Actually, nothing belongs to us, not even our body and mind. We have no control over the many systems of the body and the function of the brain. We have not been asked what form of body we should have and in which environment we will have our birth. Brahman is the creator, preserver, and dissolver of all the objects, and everything is Brahman.

I am the Doer:

Another ignorance is that ‘I am the doer.’ Our ‘Little I’, consisting of body and mind, thinks that ‘I am a doer’. Saints and Yogis who have gone deeper in analyzing this ‘Little I’, found that it is ‘A projected I’ on the Brahman out of ignorance. When we understand this fact, then we realize that the Power of Brahman is working through all the beings and Brahman is the doer of everything.

Questions: 

A few questions naturally arise. How many can truly realize that ‘everything is Brahman’? The state of seeing ‘everything as Brahman’ is called Samadhi. When a person attains Samadhi, he/she remains absorbed in Brahman. How then that person can perform any action? How does such a person survive without eating or drinking water? Most people cannot attain Samadhi. How should these people live in the world?

Answers:

It is true that rare people attain the state of Samadhi and remain in that state. Also, when one is in that state, he/she is not aware of one’s body and has no desire to eat or drink. Knowledgeable people say that such a person drops off the body in 21 days. However, this is an extreme example. When Sri Ramakrishna’s mind used to rise to the state of Samadhi, he used to keep a desire in mind, like ‘I want to drink water’. Because of this simple desire, his mind used to come down from the state of Samadhi to the body level and he would ask for water. 

Most people cannot attain the state of Samadhi and those who attain Samadhi may not remain in that state all the time. How should people who are trying to attain Samadhi live in the world?  Sri Ramakrishna clearly showed the way. He said that such people continue to do spiritual practices, keep Holy Company, and think that everything belongs to God and they are the caretakers. He gave an example of a governess or a nanny who takes care of the children of the owner of the house as if they were her children but knows that they are not her children. Regarding the doer-ship, he used to sing a bhajan which says ‘O God as the Universal Mother! You are Self-willed. You are the redeemer. Everything happens according to your wish. You do everything, but people think that they are doing things. At your wish, you tie people with the world, give the highest Knowledge to some, and help a lame person climb the mountain. O Mother! I am a machine, and you are its operator. I am a house, and you are the indweller. I am a chariot, and you are the charioteer. I do move according to your wish.’

Two Ways of Living:

We have two choices to live our lives: (1) Ignorance Oriented Life (IOL), or (2) Knowledge Oriented Life (KOL). The choice is ours.

(1) In IOL, ignorance is the ignorance of the Atman. We believe that we are just our body and mind and there is no soul behind them. Here are a few major problems in this kind of life. First, we limit ourselves and our potential.  The body is going to die one day, so the fear of death constantly haunts us. Second, our life will not have any higher meaning except acquiring the pleasures of the body and mind. We get some pleasure, but we have to go through lots of suffering. We get bored by what we have and never become satisfied. Third, we become selfish and disconnected from other people. Thus, we will be depriving ourselves of unselfish love.

(2)  In KOL, the Knowledge is Brahmavidya or Atmavidya, the knowledge of Brahman or Atman. Knowing means realizing Brahman or Atman. Here are a few major advantages to this kind of life. First, believing that my true identity is Atman, we, as Atman, become immortal. It does not matter that the bodies come and go. Atman can take many bodies. Thus, there is no fear of death. Second, by connecting with Atman we open the door of an infinite power and potential. This helps us in the critical time of our lives. Third, Atman is blissful. When we experience the presence of Atman within, our life becomes filled with bliss which does not depend on any object of the world. Fourth, we see the same Atman in all beings and thus feel Oneness with all. This Oneness fills our life with unselfish love. We unselfishly love all and so we receive unselfish love in return.

The Great Devotee Hanuman’s Practical Approach:

Once Lord Rama asked Hanuman how he looks at Him. Hanuman said,

“When I am aware of my body, I think of myself as a servant and you as my Master. When I am aware of myself as a living entity, I think of myself as a part and you as the Whole. When I am aware of myself as Atman, I see no difference in me and you. This is my firm conviction.”

Here are the practical hints on how to live in the world in our different awareness levels. As long as we have body consciousness we perform our responsibilities as God’s work and offer their results to God. This way we develop a love for God and acquire the Knowledge of Atman.

Divine and Demonic Qualities:

From the stories of Tarakasura, Tripura, Ravana, and others, we learn that demons were actually devotees before. They perform severe austerities, more than many human beings, realize some forms of God, and acquire great power and prosperity through boons. However, at some point, they yield to lust, greed, egotism, and anger and eventually, they become demons. They forget that divine qualities bring joy and peace while demonic qualities bring self-destruction.

In the sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna clearly describes the divine and the demonic qualities. He said that the divine qualities make us free from all our bondages, while the demonic qualities bind us and make us slaves to our senses and the objects of the world. People with divine qualities attain peace and bliss within, while people with demonic qualities have an unlimited amount of suffering.

It is good to keep in mind the lists of divine and demonic qualities and make sure that we develop and nourish the divine qualities in us and stay away from the demonic qualities.   

 The Divine Qualities:

The following are the divine qualities or virtues.  These virtues are inter-connected.  If a person practices one of these qualities with proper understanding, then the other qualities follow.

(1) fearlessness, (2) purity of mind, (3) being established in the True Knowledge of the Self and acquires ability to focus the mind on the Self, (4) gives in charity, (5) control on one’s senses, (6) sacrifice or unselfish service (7) study of the scriptures and habit of reflecting upon their teachings in order to practice them, (8) austerities – bearing the pain caused due to spiritual practices (9) being simple minded (lack of crookedness), (10) not to hurt anyone through thought, speech and action, (11) being truthful, (12) devoid of anger, (13) renunciation – ability to renounce what comes in the way of spiritual development (14) peaceful nature, (15) not to think or talk about ills of others, (16) compassion towards all beings, (17) not being greedy, (18) having gentle nature (not being rude), (19) modesty; feeling shame in doing unrighteous things, (20) not restless (21) possessing an aura of divinity (22) forgiveness, (23) ability to hold on to spiritual practices until realization of one’s divinity, (24) purity – external and internal, (25) having no animosity towards anyone and (26) not craving for special honor or respect.

The Demonic Qualities:

The following are the demonic qualities that conceal the divinity of a person and lead one to ignorance and destruction:

(1) Pretension, (2) Arrogance, (3) Being egotistic, (4) Lack of control over anger, (5) Rudeness, (6) Ignorance, (7) Being confused between “what should be done,” and “what should not be done,” (8) Lacking purity (9) Being unrighteous (10) Being untruthful

(11)  People with demonic qualities think that the world is devoid of truth, has no moral basis, is without God, and is a creation of a combination of male and female elements having no other cause except the fulfillment of lust. Having such views these lost souls with little understanding and fierce actions rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction.

(12) Being filled with hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, and giving themselves up to insatiable desires, they hold false views through delusion and act with impure resolve.

(13) Living with infinite worries that last till their deaths and thinking that ‘acquiring pleasures of body and mind is the only goal of life,’ they crave sense-pleasures.

(14) Being slaves of thousands of hopes of worldly desires and filled with lust and anger, they are busy collecting money for sense pleasures through unethical means.

(15) People with demonic qualities think that “Today I have gained one thing and later on I will fulfill another of my longings. I have collected a large amount of money and in the future, I will collect more. I have killed this enemy, and I will kill more in the future.  I am the Lord of the Universe.  I enjoy the world.  I am endowed with all the cleverness. I am powerful and I am happy.  I am rich and I am from a ‘high family.’  There is no one equal to me.  I give to charity, perform religious rituals, and I will enjoy the world.”  Thus, being deluded by ignorance, caught in the net of ‘attachment’, with messed-up minds, and craving for sense pleasures they fall into a hell, meaning live very low-level human lives.

(16)  Considering themselves great, drunken by wealth and worldly respect these arrogant people perform religious rituals whimsically for their worldly pleasures.  They do not properly follow scriptural injunctions.

(17) Minds being filled with ego, pride in their physical strength, arrogance, worldly desires, anger, and jealousy they torture Me (the Self) which lies in themselves and others.