#Tattva_Bhagavatam, a special discourse based on the principles of Bhagavatam: 
#GouSwarga_Chaturmasya
17-09-2018:

Matsyavatara

We beings have come to this world because of Karma. But God is not like that, he descends to this earth in order to transform and help people. He keeps coming. अजायमानो बहुधा विजायते means the one who has no births, He depicts Himself as being born several times though it is not a birth.

For example, we say that the sun has risen. He is there since time immemorial, and will be there for a lot more time. We say that the sun has set. Is the ocean enough to drown the sun? The earth with the ocean is just a small piece as compared to the size of the sun.

TattvaBhaagavatam

Similarly, like he takes an Avatar (manifestation), he shows that the Avatar has ended. Let us wholeheartedly meditate on the miraculous Shri Krishna. Today let us look at the story of Matsyavatara. He changes forms according to circumstances for us- He moves on land, He moves in water, He becomes a female and also becomes male, He becomes a child. He is formless and without shape but he manifests in different forms for the sake of the devotees.

The story begins from Lord Brahma feeling sleepy one night after being exhausted from the task of creation, the whole day. Also, it was his habit to sleep at a fixed time, because Lord Brahma’s sleep means calamity and His state of being awake is the time of creation. He too requires rest, creation too requires a pause. If a machine keeps on working without stop won’t it malfunction? Similarly, the machine of creation too needs rest. When Brahma felt sleepy, he yawned. We feel happy to know that Lord Brahma too yawns! There is a significance behind the sleep and yawn of such great beings, unlike us. His yawn is such that once Jambavantha was born. Now when he yawned, the Vedas originated from His face. Brahmadeva has four faces, so four Vedas appeared from the four faces. Hayagreeva, the asura(demon) who was waiting for this, stole them. So, the world was deprived of the Vedas.

This huge incident took place in the creation. As a result, without the Vedas there was suffering. Vedas means light, what kind of living will it be without light? The significance of light is known only when darkness prevails. What would happen if the sun doesn’t rise? The Chaitanya that travels in beings is because of that light. Right during that time, the king who was Rajarshi, named Satyavrata was seated on the banks of river Kritamoola. As he took water in the hands for Tarpana, a tiny female fish came in his hand. This is a small incident. Why this was told is because a small incident can be the cure for that huge incident.

When Satyavrata was about to leave it back in the water, the tiny fish speaks this- O king! Don’t put me back in water. Since I’m small, I have a threat from fishes the which are bigger than me. Therefore please rescue me. Satyavrata agreed and put it in his Kamandalu. By next morning, it had grown as big as the Kamandalu. Later he took it and placed it in a small container. In one day, it grew as big as the container. Next, he put it in a pot, which it outgrew, followed by a big pan, and a lake which was again not enough to contain it. With full of curiosity he asks- who are you? You look like a fish but what exactly are you? The fish then replies- “I am not just a fish. I am Mahavishnu. I have come for you, I have come to save the world”.

Those who spread outcry that God only sides in the male section, should be informed this- Vishnu’s first Avatar among the Dashavataras was that of a female, a female fish which was called Shaphari. The fish again says- Satyavrata, in exactly 7 days, a huge calamity will strike; everything will be submerged in water. For the world and creation to sustain, beejas (seeds) should be safe. Therefore, you must protect this creation’s seeds.
Beejaroopa means the sookshma sharira (micro body), which is invisible to the naked eye. (The micro forms of the panchabhutas are called tanmaatras). Collect these and also the special medicines. On the day of pralaya (deluge), there comes a ship with the saptarshis (the great 7 sages) in it. As there is darkness outside, their radiance shall bring light there. You should board onto the ship with all your collection and be travelling using that light. One day a great hurricane shall come and I will come to you during that time. You should tie the ship to my horn using the great serpent Vaasuki. I will take the ship safely and till the next morning you are safe. Morning here means the morning of Brahma, the end of pralaya. How long it is! Till then I will transport the ship safely. During that time, you can keep asking questions and I will keep answering them.

The incident took place as the Lord said. Everywhere there was water, he boarded onto the ship. Satyavrata was excited and was waiting for the arrival of the Lord towards him. Kunti wishes that adversities must always be there because then we remember the Lord.

The hurricane blew one day; or did the fish itself brought it? The fish was such a huge one that it spanned a length of 100 yojanas. The fish had a horn on it and after tying the ship to it, Satyavrata was relieved. The conversation between the greatest of the gods and the greatest of the souls began. They talked until the dawn. Satyavrata was initiated with the concepts of knowledge, devotion, god and soul. Meanwhile demon Hayagriva was searched and killed. The creation began after the fish form God procured the Vedas from the demon and returned them to Brahma. Vedas are the source for the creation of the world. Veda means to know. How can there be creation without knowledge! So, creation is through Vedas. This is why the Vedas were restored in Brahma’s face. The creation became easier then.

That great king is today’s Vaivasvata Manu. He is the head of the present Manvantara. Manu is not a name, it is a position. Raaja, Guru are all positions, not names. Brahma’s one morning witnesses 14 Manus. Now it’s the period of 7th Manu. One Manu’s period is 71 Mahayugas where one Mahayuga is a group of Satya, Treta, Dwaapara and Kali yugas. Brahma’s timeline is just unimaginable! This is how the present Manu came.

When the sound of the Vedas falls on the ears, it is considered sacred. It is very vast. It can’t be understood in mere few moments. It is not even possible to learn the Vedas that way. Many births are not enough to apprehend it. There is a praise by Jayadeva to Lord Vishnu “You are the one who apprehend the Vedas in a vast flooded ocean, you are not just a fish in it, you are also the ship; you are the one who at the time of flood travel through the ocean effortlessly”. What is Veda? What does Veda mean? Nobody knows and yet we use it.

Veda is not a second-hand knowledge. Veda means knowledge which has come by having awareness. Veda is not just awareness, it is awareness with experience. The English word ‘to feel’ is the closest word for it. If there is no feeling, there is no life. If any part of the body doesn’t experience feeling, then it becomes useless. When an object has to be felt every sense-organ responds to it in a certain way. For instance, the tongue senses the taste, the eyes sense the appearance, nose senses the smell. If these sense organs do not assimilate the various senses, we won’t be able to recognise the object. Veda is the one that creates this awareness. If any of the sense organs is absent that becomes a major disability, it dulls our life. But what will be the impact if all the senses stop working? What is the use if the whole body loses the sense of touch? Doesn’t life become incomplete because of this? What is the purpose of living in this case? It is almost as if the life has ended. This self-sense of perception of anything is Veda. This was a story of the normal soul; the creator can feel the whole creation. The literal form of the creator, the Almighty feeling the creation is nothing but Veda. It represents the immensity of the Vedas. Those words are the medium for us to perceive this immensity, then the perception becomes the medium.

यस्य निश्वसितं वेदाः। It means Vedas are the breath of the Almighty, implying that it is as vital as the breath. It is the source for retiring the sorrow and securing happiness. It shows the path, it provides that knowledge. This is important to gain the necessities and let go of the unnecessary things. Life is that way, the necessities have to arrive and the unnecessary things have to leave. Is there any other expectation? That is all life is about and Veda is a scripture for life.

The Almighty created the universe with awareness. To create some knowledge about it is crucial. How can anything be created with ignorance? How can anything be built without proper knowledge? Hence, Vedas are the source to build our lives and maintain it. When there is absence of light, only a small distance can be covered with the light of knowledge, but nothing after that. There is no life without light. Even a climber grows towards the light, an insect is attracted to light even though it burns itself. It is the attraction of light, desire for light. Vedas have the light needed for life embedded in them. It is not composed by anybody, nobody wrote it, it is a discovery. For example, they say that India was found, but it existed already, they just discovered it. Vedas are the same. The person who experienced it reproduced it exactly and the listeners received it and wrote it down as it is.

The disaster of Kaliyuga is that the Vedas are disappearing. Out of a thousand Sama Veda branches only three of them remain and that too are not in good condition. The condition of other Vedas is no different. We have not yet seen a branch of Atharvana Veda till today. Those traditions are gone. The reason behind all these is the impact of Kali. Kali’s job is to spoil the world. If the Vedas exist, it is not possible to ruin the world. It is not possible to wreck the humans. It is impossible to pollute the mind. Dharma, felicity, prosperity, life – all of these are routed to Veda. It teaches us what to do and what not to. It simplifies life. Veda is the one that informs this and makes it happen indirectly. Now, it is not possible to perform Ashwamedha Yaaga. But if we study this Khanda it gives us results, if we recite the mantras it provides various results which are uncountable by us. If Vedas are recited and listened to, the surrounding environment is purified; and there is lot that can be given through knowledge and awareness. It can provide anything starting from the present to salvation. In the present time it is vanishing, Kali is confiscating everything like Hayagreeva did back then. We have to save and conserve it. Now, you are listening to Yajur Veda’s ‘Ghana Parayana’ which is the most important and the most difficult of all. But none of us are aware of it.

The world of Vedas is different. The world has reached that stage where nobody is aware of what Veda is, let alone reciting and listening to it. It has been forgotten. That is the impact of Kali. If Kali has to be suppressed, Vedas have to return to their glory again. If Ravana knew who Seeta was, that she was Lakshmi and that he was her child, he wouldn’t have kidnapped her; if Dasharatha was aware he wouldn’t have granted boon to Kaikeyi. Look back in your life, take yourself for instance; if you were aware, you wouldn’t have done that mistake. If awareness is there, it is impossible to make any mistake, all mistakes happen because of ignorance. It wouldn’t have happened if you were aware of the repercussions of that action. The source of many mistakes is ignorance, if knowledge is present there are no mistakes. That is Veda. Let us try to conserve and help the Vedas grow with absolute effort.

Let us earn the mercy of the Vedapurusha; Matsyaavatara.

Picture courtesy: Internet

TattvaBhaagavatam a special discourse by Sri Sri RaghaveshwaraBharathi Mahaswamiji: full Video :

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