Markandeya: devotion and destiny

 Hari Aum.

I hope all readers are keeping well and that your sadhana is going smoothly. My sadhana is carrying on steadily-- I am on holiday visiting family at present and am managing to keep up my daily japa in the midst of all the social activity. I am very relieved that the situation in Asia has calmed down (it was a horrible nightmare to put it mildly—am so grateful to the Divine Mother that the situation has been brought under control. Hope it stays that way).

Anyway, now that that nightmare is behind us (for the present anyway), I thought I would write a post about Lord Shiva's Lila as Mrityunjaya (I have dreamt about this name of Shiva a couple of times including recently which has contributed to my desire to write this post).

'Mrityunjaya' means the 'defeater of Death'. Why is Lord Shiva known by this name? Well, He is of course the Supreme Being who removes the illusion of this mortal world and grants us knowledge of our true immortal, deathless spiritual nature-- and therefore, this name suits Him perfectly.

However, there is also a famous Lila or Divine play related to Shiva as Mrityunjaya. Many of you will be familiar with this famous story already. However, for those who may not be familiar, I would like to narrate this here. 

This story describes the power of 'purushartha' or self-effort. It demonstrates how sheer determination and hard work can enable the spiritual seeker or devotee to overcome the effects of karma and destiny. It describes how the devotee invokes the grace of God to conquer death itself and attain immortality. This, in fact, is the meaning of the famous 'Mahamrityunjaya mantra' of Lord Shiva (will come back to this again later). 

So let us begin the story-- this is originally from the Puranas. Om Mrityunjayaya Namah. Salutations to Shiva, the One who conquers death.

This story centres around the life of Markandeya, a young devotee of Shiva.

Markandeya was born of a rishi and his wife after they had prayed ardently to Lord Shiva to be blessed with a child. Shiva had appeared before the couple and said that He would grant their wish-- they could choose to have a wise and noble child who would be short-lived or an ignoble child who would live long.

The couple chose to be blessed with a spiritual child and Markandeya was born. His parents were overjoyed at his birth though this was mixed with sorrow due to the knowledge that he was destined to die at the age of sixteen. 

They showered their love upon Markandeya who blossomed into a wonderful young boy. He excelled in all aspects of spiritual life, both jnana (wisdom) and bhakti (devotion). He mastered the Vedas with ease and developed strong devotion to Lord Shiva whom he worshipped daily.

The sage and his wife rejoiced as they saw their child grow and reveal his talents but secretly grieved as each year passed by. They had not told Markandeya about his destiny but, as his sixteenth birthday approached, found it difficult to conceal their sorrow.

One day, Markandeya noticed his parents seemed to be plunged in grief, and asked them what the matter was. What, he asked, was this secret sorrow that they seemed to harbour all the time and which appeared to rob them of the ability to enjoy their lives fully. 

They initially declined to tell him, but upon much persuasion, gave in. They explained that he had been born as a result of a blessing from Lord Shiva and that his destiny was to die upon attaining the age of sixteen.

Markandeya heard of his destiny in silence and spent some time contemplating upon this. He then addressed his parents, resolutely assuring them that all would be well. Telling them not to grieve, he declared that he would conquer his destiny by attaining the grace of Shiva Himself. His parents blessed him and made a prayer for success in his sadhana and the boy began his worship in right earnest.

He immersed himself in worshipping Lord Shiva dedicating every moment to Him alone. He remembered Him constantly and performed various rituals to worship Him daily (such as puja, homam and so on). Thus Markandeya became a true devotee of Lord Shiva, reaching the pinnacle of bhakti, and the state of atma-nivedana (or self-surrender).

The sixteenth birthday of Markandeya now dawned. On this day, like every other, the boy arose early in the morning and commenced worship of Lord Shiva. He performed a puja of a Shiva linga (symbolic abstract representation of Lord Shiva) while reciting His names and mantras. 

As he did so, Lord Yama, the demi-god of death, approached, a fearsome figure of dark hue, riding upon a large black bull with sharp horns. The appointed hour, the time for Markandeya's death, had arrived.

Seeing Markandeya, Lord Yama called out to him saying his time on Earth was up. It was time to give up his body and all worship. Whatever had been achieved had been achieved, and there was no further time available for more. Markandeya, however, did not notice Yama at all. He remained with eyes closed, absorbed in contemplation upon Lord Shiva. 

Seeing this, Lord Yama called out to the boy more loudly, declaring that it was time to leave and that death waited for nobody. Markandeya now opened his eyes and, upon seeing Yama, told him that he had not yet completed his worship. He was not ready to depart the Earth, he said.

Yama, who was familiar with souls who were not yet ready to leave, now took up his famous noose (this noose was the tool he used to remove the unwilling soul from the body and thus give death). He then threw the noose around Markandeya, intending to draw his soul away from his body. 

Markandeya, however, seeing the noose coming towards him, threw his arms around the Shiva linga that he had been worshipping. The noose of Yama thus fell upon both upon the boy and the Shiva linga. 

As the noose of death tightened around Markandeya, he concentrated his mind upon Shiva with intense devotion and uttered the following words:

Markandeya said:

Om Trayambakam yajamahe,

Sugandhim pushti vardhanam,

Urva rukamiva bandhanan,

Mrityor mukshiya mamritat!

This means:

Om - syllable that is the Supreme Being in sound form

Trayambam- O Three eyed One (Shiva has two eyes and the third one in the centre of His forehead which is a symbolic 'spiritual eye'. This third eye opens when He wishes to unleash His destructive power to dissolve the cosmos)

Yajamahe- I worship You

Sugandhim- the One who is fragrant (symbolic of being filled with virtues)

Pushti vardhanam- the One who nourishes all beings

Urva rukamiva bandhanan- as a ripe cucumber is released from the stalk

Mrityor mukshiya mamritat- free me from the bondage of death and grant me immortality

These words comprise the famous Maha Mrityunjaya mantra of Lord Shiva. It is said that Markandeya is the sage who first revealed this mantra to humanity.

As the boy uttered these words, it is said that a terrible sound was heard and Shiva Himself emerged from the linga. He had come in response to the ardent prayer of His devotee. 

Glaring at Yama, He rebuked him for daring to cast his noose around His devotee and upon the Shiva linga. Filled with Divine wrath, He gave death to Death himself and Yama fell to the ground lifeless. 

Thus, Shiva came to be known as 'Mrityunjaya', the One who is victorious over death, and as 'Kalantaka', the One who ends time or death.

Having dealt with Yama, Lord Shiva now turned to Markandeya and blessed him. Declaring that He was greatly pleased with his devotion, He stated that Markandeya would live in the form of a sixteen year old youth for as long as the cosmos existed. 

Markandeya was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude at the appearance of Lord Shiva and venerated Him with many hymns.

Upon realising that Yama had been given death, the other demi-gods/devas were greatly distressed. Who, they asked, would now perform the important task of overseeing the departure of souls from their bodies in the mortal realms? Who would keep an account of the karma of souls and dispense justice in accordance with Divine will? Lord Yama simply had to be brought back to life to perform this vital task, they declared!

The devas thus approached Lord Shiva and ardently prayed to Him to bring Yama back to life. Hearing their pleas, Shiva relented and granted their wish. Yama thus opened his eyes as life returned to his body. Upon seeing Lord Shiva, he bowed to Him asking for forgiveness and then departed for Yamaloka, his own realm. 

Having blessed Markandeya and Yama, Lord Shiva departed. The young sage then went to his parents who were overjoyed to discover that their son had overcome his destiny.

Markandeya went on to become a great sage in his own right and a Guru to many disciples (there is an entire Purana named after him). The Mahamrityunjaya mantra (described above) that he revealed to humanity has been recited by many Gurus and their disciples over the centuries.

In the Vedic tradition, the recitation of this mantra is said to grant both spiritual and material benefits. Aside from the spiritual benefits (it is a great 'moksha' mantra or granter of Self Realisation), it is a particularly important mantra for preservation of health/overcoming karma related to disease, and prevention of accidents/untimely death. In many spiritual traditions (including the lineage of Sivananda), this mantra is recited on people's birthdays and when they are unwell to pray to Shiva for health and a happy, prosperous life (it is also recited after death to pray for the peace of departed souls).

The legend of Markandeya thus gives encouragement to every soul to overcome unfavourable destiny through the power of devotion. He teaches us that we too can, by self-effort or 'purushartha', draw the grace of the Divine upon ourselves, and thus overcome death and attain knowledge of our true spiritual nature.

Om Mrityunjayaya Namah. Om Kalantakaya Namah. Om Namah Shivaya.

Salutations to Lord Shiva, and to His great devotees, sage Markandeya and Lord Yama, who participated in this Divine Lila.

Om Sri Durgayai Namah. 

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

The Kali kavacha: ahimsa and dharma

 Hari Aum.

Aum Sri MahaKalikayai Namah.

"Ahimsa paramo dharma" meaning "Non-violence is the highest virtue" is only half of this famous Sanskrit sloka from the great epic, the Mahabharata.

The full sloka is:

"Ahimsa paramo dharma, 

Dharmam himsa tathaiva cha"

Meaning:

"Non-violence is the highest virtue,

as is violence when required to serve righteousness"

In other words, it is true that non-violence is the highest virtue. This spirit of non-violence towards others comes from the recognition that the Divine exists in all. However, the material realm that we live in on Earth is a place of duality. 

Divine and undivine forces are forever in battle here--both internally within our consciousness, and externally between people and nations.

When the undivine gains strength and violence is perpetrated, non-violence is not the answer according to our scriptures. Accepting the victory of undivine forces within and without ourselves is not non-violence-- rather, it is cowardice, it is indifference, it is unspiritual and in many ways, it is the tacit support of violence.

There are times when a very firm stance needs to be taken against an undivine force. And we must each do what we can in our own way to help in the battle between the divine and undivine (within and without-- as the yogis say, 'God helps those who help themselves').

I am no expert on the subject of war and terrorism, however, this is now said to be a global issue. In the past decade in particular, this menace has expressed itself over and over again in virtually every corner of the globe. And the frequency seems to be increasing in the past couple of years.

Every week, if not every day, we hear of innocent people being massacred as a result of this curse upon humanity. People armed with various weapons and bombs, gain entry into concerts, stations, airports, markets, places of worship and so on, intent only upon the destruction of innocent lives. They provide various false types of justification, ranging from religious ideology to saying that they too have been the victims of violence by others.

However, if we look at the history of the world, is there any nation that can claim to be truly better than others when it comes to violence? Surely every square inch of our planet has witnessed the brutal nature of humanity over thousands of years. 

Human minds are ultimately the same everywhere; regardless of the nation that we belong to. The capacity for brutal violence exists everywhere-- as does the capacity for the opposite, namely forgiveness and peace. 

Clearly, it is not a particular religious group that is responsible for the menace of terrorism today. It is a warped understanding of the world, a dark consciousness where the light of humanity does not exist that is responsible for these horrific, senseless acts of violence. 

Two wrongs can never make a right. A terrorist attack can never be justified under any circumstances. It is absolutely abhorrent and vile. Equally, the divine and righteous response to a violent, unjust, horrific terrorist attack cannot be the unleashing of war upon other innocent people (as this then becomes another form of unrighteousness/adharma).

However, it is perfectly appropriate and just to tackle the networks and systems that violent individuals use to unleash suffering upon others-- this may include their finances, weaponry, physical infrastructure and those who support them.

On a practical level, countries need to work together to effectively deal with this and protect innocent citizens. 

As a result of the recent appalling terrorist attack in Kashmir (where twenty-six civilians were killed by terrorists simply for being Hindu), the Indian authorities appear to have decided to take some action against the terrorist networks in and around the area.

There is much uncertainty as to what may happen in the coming days, weeks and months. I very much hope we are not going to have a war in Asia (in addition to the ongoing ones in Europe and the Middle East). (There is always the potential for the situation to spiral out of control-- though I am hopeful that under the current leadership in India, this will not occur.)

It is very tragic when men and women in the armed forces experience severe injury or even death while discharging their duty to protect their fellow countrymen from violent extremists and terrorists. It is every family's nightmare to lose a loved one in such terrible and traumatic circumstances, be it a father, mother, sibling, child or other relation.

We may not be members of the armed forces but we can pray for them. I believe that our prayers can help keep them safe and enable them to perform their duties while remaining on the side of dharma/righteousness.

Based on the teachings of my Guru Sivananda (and some limited experience of my own), I know that mantras can be a truly remarkable force for peace and protection.

I was listening today to the Kali kavacha, a set of mantras that invokes the protecting power of Mother Kali. And, as I was doing so, I strongly felt that this kavacha would be a very good one to protect those battling terrorism. 

As India stands on the brink of war against terror today, I felt that (for my own peace and sanity if nothing else), I would like to pray to Mother Kali every day with this kavacha. I would like to request Her to shield every single man and woman engaged in battle against terrorists in India (and around the world). 

I hope to be able to perform this kavacha sadhana for a month (started this today)-- if nothing else, I feel that it will help alleviate my own anxiety regarding this extremely disturbing and uncertain situation. 

If you are also interested in this kavacha, and would like to recite or listen to it, please see below for a link to a beautiful rendition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TURckgElHg

The Kali Kavacha is said to have been recited by Lord Shiva to Lord Narayana/Vishnu. In this prayer, Shiva praises the power and glories of His divine consort, Mother Kali, declaring that Her worship grants one ultimate protection from all danger. Furthermore, She grants all material and spiritual blessings.

Let us, with complete humility, ask Mother Kali to first enable us to conquer our own lower nature and become Her instruments. Having made this prayer, let us then invoke Her power and protection for all those brave men and women who place their lives on the line for our safety, to allow us to sleep peacefully at night.

May Mother Kali destroy terrorism and eradicate this from the Earth-- and sooner rather than later. And may She ensure that any action taken by India in the coming time with regard to this issue is successful and in accordance with Her wishes. 

May dharma prevail.

Om Sri MahaKalikayai Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S.

A simple, quick Kali puja with the kavacha.

Obtain a murti/idol of Mother Kali. (Alternatively, visualise Her form and perform the puja in the mind, as 'manasik puja').

Light a lamp and burn a little incense (incense is said to keep negative energies at bay).

Mentally bow to Ganesha, your Guru (if you have one), all Gurus, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.

Invoke the Mother in the idol or within your own heart space/anahata chakra; ask Her to be present and accept your worship (and trust that She will be present as She exists everywhere). 

Make offerings of any or all of the following while listening to or reciting the Kali kavacha mantras:

-milk

-honey

-water

-kumkum

-sandal paste

-food (fruits, nuts, raisins etc)

-flowers 

At the end (in accordance with tradition), offer an apology for any errors in the worship (including most importantly, any lapses in devotion/concentration/any negative thoughts). 

Ask Her to bless yourself, those dear to you, the whole world and especially those who are engaged in the battle against terrorism-- may She bless and protect us all.

{Note: the energy created by Mother Kali (that is felt in the mind and body) can feel intense (I find this to be the case particularly with this kavacha). I personally like to balance this by worshipping/reciting mantras etc for Mother Lakshmi (the gentle, nourishing aspect of the Mother). These two aspects of the One Divine Mother complement each other beautifully. 

While worshipping Kali, it is especially essential to attempt to adhere to the yogic ethics as far as possible. This is because She is the Goddess of justice (and does not take kindly to any deliberately unethical conduct; She is a deeply loving but also stern aspect of the Mother who will correct us very firmly to enable spiritual growth). Accidental mistakes in worship/lapses in concentration/devotion would not be an issue provided we are being sincere and trying our best.

Victory to Mother Kali! Jaya Kali ma!

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.