Dharmaraja's Dog & Avarice now

At the end of Mahabharata, Dharmaraja, his brothers, Draupadi & a dog begin their ascent to heaven. One by one the brothers & Draupadi drop off, leaving only the dog with Dharmaraja at the gate of heaven. The dog being refused entry, Dharmaraja also refuses to enter, leaving the dog behind. Then the dog identifies itself as Dharma or righteousness, which was dearer to Dharmaraja than even his brothers & wife, & is allowed to enter heaven.

In a savage parody of this, Indians may have other cultural interests like literature, music & sports, which they may assidiouly cultivate during their younger days,  but all these gradually fall by the wayside in the frenetic rat race of life, leaving only avarice & status as the only goals persued  by them at the end of their life. A popular film actor reportedly said "All friendships have an expiry date." Likewise all other interests, except avarice & status, seem to be time-bound & liable to lose attraction.

Bengaluru "Karaga" & Ngaio Marsh's novel

Karaga festival is held on Chaitrashuddha Pournami. The origin of this is, after the Mahabharata war, Draupadi created a band of "Veerakumaras" to defeat the demon Timirasura. When Draupadi, with the Pandavas, after their earthly sojourn were ascending to heaven, the Veerakumaras requested Draupadi to stay back. She assured them that she will come back annually on Karaga day. The Dharmarayaswami temple priest, dons female attire & impersonates Draupadi & is accompanied by Veerakumaras with swords.

Ngaio Marsh wrote a novel called "Death of a Fool" (USA) or "Off with his head" (UK) where on winter solstice, in a fictional Mardian Castle, "Dance of the five sons" was ritually performed. Apart from the five sons, brandishing swords, there was also the father, Guiser, a Hobby Horse "Crack", & most significantly a "Betty", a man wearing a wide crinoline skirt & impersonating a woman!

What a similarity between esoteric customs in parts of India & U.K.!

Similar beliefs across religions

In Hinduism, in many Puranas, there are mentions of heaven & hell where the virtuous & vicious go respectively. But the stay in heaven is temporary. After the virtues are worked off, the souls are believed to be reborn on earth. This is true even in the case of those who performed Vedic rituals faithfully. The goal of human life in Hinduism is not heaven but "Moksha", release from rebirth, which is obtained by dispassion in the world & single minded devotion to God. This is explicitly stated in the "Mundaka Upanishad."

But still, most may want to go to heaven, though temporarily, with eventual rebirth, as evinced by the common saying "Usko Swargavas ho gaya!"

In the Qur'an, it is stated that the believers go to "Jannat" (heaven of sensual delights) & the others go to "Jahannum" (hell of eternal torment). It is made clear that Allah is NOT in Jannat. Still most Muslims may prefer to go to  "Jannat" as most Hindus prefer to go to Swarga! The Sufis believe that they attain Allah as revealed by Rabia of Basra, who rejected both Jannat & Jahannum, but wanted to be permeated with love of Allah.

In the Bible, Matthew, (19:24) it is said " It is much harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (NOT HEAVEN), than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Also in Matthew (6:24), "You cannot serve both God & Mammon." But still most Christians are obsessed with wealth.

Mary, Mother of Christ, is called "Queen of Heaven," It is evident that this heaven is not a sensual one. Even in Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", his goal, the Celestial City, is the abode of God. The female Christian Saints' description of their mystical experiences, also envisage spiritual union with Jesus Christ. Rather than the sensual, St.Julian of Norwich's eighth prayer for "shewing" is the opposite, an experience of Christ's Crucifixion!

Another common hankering, cutting across religious barriers, is the insatiable one for wealth. Winthrop Mackworth Praed, a nineteenth century clergyman & poet is famed for the quote "Dame Fortune is Fickle." Incidentally in Hinduism also, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth is widely known to be fickle. But still, she is more worshipped than her learned sister, Saraswathi, whose blessings last a lifetime.

The commonality across religions is the human tendency to choose the short-term pleasant goal of Swarga or Jannat or the grace of Lakshmi over Moksha, proximity to Allah or the perennial blessings of Saraswathi.

Sacred "Live In" relationships

"Live In" relationships commonly means people living together without marriage. But if one expands the relationship beyond the merely physical, a wonderful world of spirituality beckons.

An outstanding example is Akka Mahadevi, who though nominally married to a king, considered herself the spouse of her "Chenna Mallikarjuna", i.e., Shiva. As she puts it in one of her Vachanas,

If one is hungry, one can beg.

If one is thirsty, there are ponds.

For hot or cold weather,

There are fans & cloths.

For sleep, disused temples;

For my soul's company.

You are there, Channamallikarjuna.

Even earlier, was Rabia of Basra, who when asked about her marriage, said;

The contract of marriage is for those

Who have a physical existence;

I have ceased to exist,

My existence is in Allah,

I am totally His.

Comments Margaret Smith in her pioneering study, "Rabia Basri the Mystic", writes "So like her Christian Sister's in sanctity, Rabia espoused a heavenly Bridegroom."

Speaking of her Christian Sister in Sanctity,  St.Julian of Norwich went so far as to ask for the experience of Christ's Crucifixion as a boon. It was vouchsafed to her in her eighth "shewing", as she describes her vision.

As all these saints, cutting across religious barriers, express basically the same identification with the Divinity, there may be some truth in the assertion that their Bliss was incomparably higher than the utmost human Bliss.

Quantitative analysis of Human & Higher Bliss In Taittiriya Upanishad

Human Bliss(hB) is defined as the highest unit of human Bliss, possessed by a young person, healthy, strong, intelligent, educated with all the wealth of the world at his command. If he/she is also happy, their bliss may be measured as one unit of hB (human Bliss).

The Bliss of Gandharvas (earthly musicians & dancers) is one hundred times hB (human   Bllis) or eG Bliss = hB X 10 squared.

The Bliss of Celestial Gandharvas (cG) (celestial musicians & dancers) is one hundred times eG = hB X 10 to the power of 4.

The Bliss of Deceased Ancestors is 100 times the Bliss of cG or hB X 10 to the power of 6.

The Bliss of Devas is 100 times the Bliss of Deceased Ancestors or hB X 10 to the power of 8.

The Bliss of Karma Devas is 100 times the Bliss of Devas or hB X 10 to the power of 10.

The Bliss of Ruling Devas is 100 times the Bliss of Karma Devas or hB X 10 to the power of 12.

The Bliss of Indra, King of Heaven, is 100 times the Bliss of the Ruling Devas or hB X 10 to the power of 14.

The Bliss of Brihaspathi, the Guru of the Devas, is 100 times the Bliss of Indra or hB X 10 to the power of 16.

The Bliss of Prajapati, Lord of creation, is 100 times the Bliss of Brihaspati or hB X 10 to the power of 18.

The Bliss of Brahma, is 100 times the Bliss of Prajapati or hB X 10 to the power of 20. But no less joy than Brahma has the seer to whom the self has been revealed & who is without craving.

This highest Divine Bliss may be presumed to be enjoyed by seers like Sri Ramakrishna & Sri Ramana Maharshi. The Bliss of these is the highest human Bliss X 10 to the power of 20! Similar comparison of highest human Bliss & Divine Bliss are also explicit in "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna."

(The exact meaning of terms like Karma Devas & Ruling Devas vary from text to text. They can be inferred to be gradations.)

Abstracted from "The Upanishads" by Swami Prabhavananda.

Bane of Bigotry in Politics & Religion

Bigotry is against human reason, though very common among humans. How can one political party be totally toxic & others totally good passes human understanding. The absurdity of it becomes evident when people change parties. Do they suddenly become Mr. Hyde, transforming themselves from Dr Jekyll? Most politicians have a (secret) agenda of their own irrespective of party affiliations. So taking a polarised view in these matters may not be wise for the electorate. DVG, the noted Kannada (& English writer) in his two treatises on politics called "Rajya Shastra" & "Rajyanga" puts forward an eminently sane viewpoint, devoid of dogma & bigotry.

Bigotry in religious matters is even more illogical & dangerous. Swami Vivekananda took the bull by the horns, when he boldly stated that there is no one true religion (as claimed mostly by the Abrahamic ones). If one is true, all are true. He even went further & stated that it is desirable for each to have their own personal religion.

Probably watching inter-religious strife, due to bigotry & dogmatism, throughout the ages, Thomas Paine, in his hugely influential book, "The Age of Reason", declared war against all organised religions, though he was a believer in God. In his equally pathbreaking book "Common Sense", he debunks the "Divine Right to Rule" leading to Monarchy. This may be another form of bigotry that accident of birth may enable persons to rule others. It may be recalled that Thomas Paine's Pen was as effective as George Washington's Sword in gaining American Independence."

Especially in the twenty first century, dogmatism & bigotry are being fuelled by the popularity of Indian film stars & popular cricketers. To get cheap popularity by the masses & probable later entry into politics, the dialogues are written for the actors to boost their image to the ridiculous extent that a few even give "darshan" outside their houses to their fans, like divine personages! This mindless exercise is peculiar to India. The ads by cricketers may also pass on subliminal messages. The minds of the gullible public being manipulated by what after all are mere entertainers & not nation builders is pathetic.

There are no better words against bigotry than those of Rev.Martin Luther King, Jr, who said "There is some good in the worst of us & some evil in the best of us. When we know this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

Two "Great" Ladies in Literature

"Miss (Dorothea) Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Her hand & wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters, & her profile as well as her stature & bearing seemed to gain the more dignity from her plain garments, which by the side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper."

Such is the fastidious description of dignified feminine beauty at the very start of one of the greatest novels in English Literature, namely "Middlemarch" by George Eliot.

Later, Dorothea, lovingly called 'Dodo' by her younger sister Celia, marries disastrously an elderly dry scholar, enamoured by his learning.

After his death, his conditional will, humiliates her.

When she visits Rosamund Lydgate, an equally beautiful lady, in her carriage & pair, the maid Martha, on enquiry, says "I am not sure, my Lady; I will see, if you will please walk in" in a confused way, but collected enough to be sure that 'mum' was not the right title for this QUEENLY YOUNG WIDOW in a carriage & pair.

Throughout the novel, in spite of her mistaken marriage, her true nobility of character is never in doubt.

The other 'Great' lady in fiction is Melanie Hamilton from Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind." Though her sister-in-law, the feisty Scarlett O'Hara, aspires to be one like her mother, who was a truly great lady, she lacks the character for it. The character Rhett Butler, knowing her inside out, brutally says, "You are not even a lady, let alone a Great one." To rub salt into her wound, he adds that Melanie Hamilton is a true Great Lady. Scarlett thinks Melanie is a goose, but Rhett knows better & goes to Melanie to cry on her lap, when he loses his darling little daughter in a riding accident.