Mohini or Maya?
Hello all,
Namaste! Last week we discussed the three Goddesses and how they can be brought into our life. Today let us discuss another Goddess, Mohini who was actually Mahavishnu taken avatar as a lady. (Realize how much importance was given to feminine in Vedic Mythology. I have also read a Vedic saying that Lakshmi or wealth does not stay in a place where females are not treated well. So if you want wealth, treat your lady well).
Once more let us recount the story; after Samudra Mathanam as the Devas and Asuras clashed for the nectar, Mahavishnu was given the task of distributing the nectar. To make matters very interesting and enticing for the Asuras, Mahavishnu took the form of Mohini, the very beautiful yet very seductive Goddess.
Now is there anything in this world that a woman that too a very beautiful one cannot do? Wars have been fought over ladies in mythology. For example Sita in Ramayana, Draupadi in Mahabharatha and Cleopatra in Rome. So if Mohini asks Asuras and Devas to sit in a line won't they listen to her? They were all eyes for her, especially the Asuras. Even the Devas were left wondering how it will be to make Mohini their consort. There is even a story where Shiva, the great mystic, and Adiguru became enchanted with Mohini's charm and rushed behind her asking to marry him. So then think about the Asuras and Devas.
So Mohini started distributing the nectar and the Devas ended up getting the nectar while Asuras were cheated of it. When did the Devas think of getting the Amrit? Remember? It was when they were kicked out of heaven without their kingdom after getting cursed by Durvasa and when they started becoming weak due to loss of energy or life force.
How did Indra and the Devas get cursed by Durvasa? Durvasa was wandering the worlds and came upon a heavenly garland with very sweet smelling flowers.(According to Wikipedia a Vidyadhari (a heavenly being) gave the garland). When Durvasa came across Indra traveling on his elephant Airavata, gave it to him to wear on his neck. Indra was so much immersed in his own beauty and himself, instead of wearing the garland, put it on the forehead of Airavata. As the garland was sweet-scented it was surrounded by a lot of bees. Irritated by the bees, Airavata the elephant, took the garland from his forehead, threw it to the ground and squashed it with its leg. This made Durvasa extremely angry and Indra and the Devas got the curse.
Let us come to the underlying meaning. The Devas and Indra due to the power and the riches they had with their position and authority over heaven, where very much immersed in themselves, they forgot to give the proper respect to Sage Durvasa. Durvasa was educated in all Sastras and Vedas and was considered a very wise person. So he deserved the respect of the Devas. Now in our everyday life also what happens? When we are blessed with power, wealth, and position, we forgo the wisdom and forget about the divine who actually stood with us to bring us to our position of power, wealth, and authority. Here as the sage was well versed in all the scriptures, he deserved to be respected and was on par with the divine. The Devas and Indra didn't do it and had to suffer the consequences.
The same way once we become arrogant and egoistic with our power and prestige what happens? We forget about the underlying divine hands, which led us to our prosperity and start feeling that all the things were made possible only by just our own effort. According to Vedic Philosophy, not even a leaf moves without the divine at work. So in such a case how can we become arrogant that all things were just made by us? So many times like the Devas we also accrue the divine wrath and slowly the power and prosperity vanishes.
Once the Devas became weak and deprived of the life force, they realized their mistake and went and asked the help of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the Trinity form of the divine. (I consider all the deities as various expressions of the single entity called Brahman). Same way when we get thrashed by the difficulties in life, what do we do? We realize our mistakes, become humble and pay respect to the divine who is an equal and important partner in this divine dance called life.
As soon as the Devas repented, the ever forgiving and kind divine came in the form of the avatar Kurma, Shiva who gulped down the terrible poison Halahala and Mohini (again the Divine Feminine). Now the same way once we repent of our mistakes of being egoistic and become humble the same divine comes running to assist us. We just need to ask for help. Now as the Devas had repented they had the full support and assistance of the divine in the form of Mohini.
Let us analyze Mohini now. She was divinely beautiful, enchanting and full of deception to those who hadn't realized the play or Leela of the divine. The Devas had understood the power of the divine and were aware of the Leela of Vishnu. But who was not aware? The Asuras were not aware of the divine play and were enchanted by her beauty and seductiveness. Also before the divine nectar, Amrit came out of the ocean, Varuni, the Goddess of liquor had already come out and the Asuras took hold of her and the liquor. So the Asuras were already under the influence of alcohol. (DUI - Driving under influence or LUI - Life under influence of alcohol is never good, whether in Mythology or in Life, J). So the Asuras who were totally under the influence of alcohol became completely bedazzled with Mohini and started falling for her trickery and didn't realize that they were being taken for a ride and are being cheated of Amrit.
Does this scenario ring a bell somewhere? Think of us humans. We are living in this World where there is trickery, deception, wilfulness along with compassion, love, and sympathy. Think of the Devas as people who realize the play of the divine and later became humble and take actions with the help and the support of the divine and Asuras as people who have not yet realized the hand of divine in everything that happens in this world and take actions without the support of divine, who are egoistic and arrogant and think the actions are all just taken by them. In such a scenario, who is Mohini? She becomes the Maya or the spiritual illusion in this Samsara Sagara ( Material ocean) who makes us her pawns in this divine dance drama.
If we think with such an interpretation Mohini is the Maya or the grand illusion in which we humans play act our part without realizing this great drama being orchestrated by the divine. Devas realized that Mohini was the illusory avatar played by Vishnu only after becoming humble and asking for help from the Trinity. Remember first they went and asked for the help from the Trinity, only then the Samudra Mathanam started.
Let us go back to our analysis. First, the Devas or the humans who have realized their mistake of being egotistical or arrogant, repent their mistakes, go and ask the divine for help and the all-compassionate divine suggests to do Samudra Mathana. Remember we discussed Samudra Mathana before. It is the churning of our mindscape between good and evil thoughts and patterns we are addicted to and finally we get the realization that we have Amrit or the divine knowledge of immortality; namely, each one of us has a soul, that is immortal and eternal and part of the divine.
But even after the realization is everyone served the Amrit? No, the Amrit is served by Mohini or Maya only to those people who embrace Deva like qualities such as Satya, Dharma and Karuna (Honesty, righteousness and compassion) along with divine grace to know that the dance drama of grand illusion is played by the divine and with Mohini or Maya's help we can be served the Amrit. By partaking it we can become free of our thoughts of being weak, helpless and limited and realize that we are strong with enormous power, wisdom, and limitlessness and we are eternal and immortal (This is always from the perspective of the soul and not the body). And we are limited only by our thoughts and we have the eternal support of divine.
Now about the Asuras. Even after helping in the churning of the milky ocean, they were not able to partake the Amrit.This means even though many humans go through the enormous churning of emotions, thoughts, and patterns of the mindscape, they never get to a point of the realization that Mohini is a great illusion or Maya and with the help of the divine you can come out of the churning victorious.
This is because in the case of the Asuras they were under the influence of the alcohol. Here we can use alcohol as a metaphor for power, prestige, fame, money, addiction and other emotions like jealousy, envy, anger, doubt, fear, shame etc. Only after coming out of this metaphorical grip of alcohol can we get the divine nectar of immortal wisdom. Once out of this vice-like grip of alcohol the same Maya transforms into Mohini, the divine feminine form of the supreme Brahman and we will be served the Amrit of eternal knowledge and wisdom.
But anyone who still has the inclination for the alcohol of power, prestige and other lower tendencies, their mindscape gets eternally churned without ever getting anywhere near the Amrit and they are always served the metaphorical liquor of materialism and worldliness. But people who behave in a righteous manner are served the eternal elixir and with the help of the divine, recapture the heaven with all the power, prestige, money and luxury. See the paradox! The Devas end up getting the same thing Asuras are striving for but in a much easier fashion with the help of the divine while partaking the eternal elixir of knowledge and wisdom as well.
So now a few questions to all - Is it better to be a Deva or an Asura? Who is better - Mohini or Maya? Should we get the eternal elixir or metaphorical liquor? It is always our free will and choice!
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: Mohini to Ayyappa!
Note: Images taken from Wikimedia Commons, in the Public domain of the U.S.A as well as created by Swaroopa.
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".
All rights reserved to the author (SwaroopaStargazer) and SwaroopaBlog.
To my Blog readers: As all of you know, the European Union has passed laws regarding the collection of user data. This is just to inform all my EU blog readers, I use Google Analytics, which Google provides, to look at from where readers are reading my blogs. I also use Specific feeds for their service for subscription. I don't collect or intend to collect user data to sell or provide to third-party applications. Regards,
SwaroopaBlog.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions and viewpoints shared here are that of the author/owner only. Even though the author/owner will try to research well before posting the information, the author/owner of this blog does not make any portrayal of the accuracy or correctness of the content on this blog or the links provided. The author/owner will not be liable for any omissions or inaccuracies occurred. The author/owner will not be liable for any damages or losses due to the use or display of this blog. These terms and conditions can change at any time. This blog is purely for informational purposes only.
©SwaroopaStargazer and Swaroopa, 2017.
Namaste! Last week we discussed the three Goddesses and how they can be brought into our life. Today let us discuss another Goddess, Mohini who was actually Mahavishnu taken avatar as a lady. (Realize how much importance was given to feminine in Vedic Mythology. I have also read a Vedic saying that Lakshmi or wealth does not stay in a place where females are not treated well. So if you want wealth, treat your lady well).
Once more let us recount the story; after Samudra Mathanam as the Devas and Asuras clashed for the nectar, Mahavishnu was given the task of distributing the nectar. To make matters very interesting and enticing for the Asuras, Mahavishnu took the form of Mohini, the very beautiful yet very seductive Goddess.
Now is there anything in this world that a woman that too a very beautiful one cannot do? Wars have been fought over ladies in mythology. For example Sita in Ramayana, Draupadi in Mahabharatha and Cleopatra in Rome. So if Mohini asks Asuras and Devas to sit in a line won't they listen to her? They were all eyes for her, especially the Asuras. Even the Devas were left wondering how it will be to make Mohini their consort. There is even a story where Shiva, the great mystic, and Adiguru became enchanted with Mohini's charm and rushed behind her asking to marry him. So then think about the Asuras and Devas.
So Mohini started distributing the nectar and the Devas ended up getting the nectar while Asuras were cheated of it. When did the Devas think of getting the Amrit? Remember? It was when they were kicked out of heaven without their kingdom after getting cursed by Durvasa and when they started becoming weak due to loss of energy or life force.
How did Indra and the Devas get cursed by Durvasa? Durvasa was wandering the worlds and came upon a heavenly garland with very sweet smelling flowers.(According to Wikipedia a Vidyadhari (a heavenly being) gave the garland). When Durvasa came across Indra traveling on his elephant Airavata, gave it to him to wear on his neck. Indra was so much immersed in his own beauty and himself, instead of wearing the garland, put it on the forehead of Airavata. As the garland was sweet-scented it was surrounded by a lot of bees. Irritated by the bees, Airavata the elephant, took the garland from his forehead, threw it to the ground and squashed it with its leg. This made Durvasa extremely angry and Indra and the Devas got the curse.
 |
| Indra on Airavatha See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Let us come to the underlying meaning. The Devas and Indra due to the power and the riches they had with their position and authority over heaven, where very much immersed in themselves, they forgot to give the proper respect to Sage Durvasa. Durvasa was educated in all Sastras and Vedas and was considered a very wise person. So he deserved the respect of the Devas. Now in our everyday life also what happens? When we are blessed with power, wealth, and position, we forgo the wisdom and forget about the divine who actually stood with us to bring us to our position of power, wealth, and authority. Here as the sage was well versed in all the scriptures, he deserved to be respected and was on par with the divine. The Devas and Indra didn't do it and had to suffer the consequences.
The same way once we become arrogant and egoistic with our power and prestige what happens? We forget about the underlying divine hands, which led us to our prosperity and start feeling that all the things were made possible only by just our own effort. According to Vedic Philosophy, not even a leaf moves without the divine at work. So in such a case how can we become arrogant that all things were just made by us? So many times like the Devas we also accrue the divine wrath and slowly the power and prosperity vanishes.
Once the Devas became weak and deprived of the life force, they realized their mistake and went and asked the help of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the Trinity form of the divine. (I consider all the deities as various expressions of the single entity called Brahman). Same way when we get thrashed by the difficulties in life, what do we do? We realize our mistakes, become humble and pay respect to the divine who is an equal and important partner in this divine dance called life.
As soon as the Devas repented, the ever forgiving and kind divine came in the form of the avatar Kurma, Shiva who gulped down the terrible poison Halahala and Mohini (again the Divine Feminine). Now the same way once we repent of our mistakes of being egoistic and become humble the same divine comes running to assist us. We just need to ask for help. Now as the Devas had repented they had the full support and assistance of the divine in the form of Mohini.
Let us analyze Mohini now. She was divinely beautiful, enchanting and full of deception to those who hadn't realized the play or Leela of the divine. The Devas had understood the power of the divine and were aware of the Leela of Vishnu. But who was not aware? The Asuras were not aware of the divine play and were enchanted by her beauty and seductiveness. Also before the divine nectar, Amrit came out of the ocean, Varuni, the Goddess of liquor had already come out and the Asuras took hold of her and the liquor. So the Asuras were already under the influence of alcohol. (DUI - Driving under influence or LUI - Life under influence of alcohol is never good, whether in Mythology or in Life, J). So the Asuras who were totally under the influence of alcohol became completely bedazzled with Mohini and started falling for her trickery and didn't realize that they were being taken for a ride and are being cheated of Amrit.
 |
| Mohini distributing Amrit By Sagar_mathan.jpg: unknown derivative work: Redtigerxyz (Sagar_mathan.jpg |
Does this scenario ring a bell somewhere? Think of us humans. We are living in this World where there is trickery, deception, wilfulness along with compassion, love, and sympathy. Think of the Devas as people who realize the play of the divine and later became humble and take actions with the help and the support of the divine and Asuras as people who have not yet realized the hand of divine in everything that happens in this world and take actions without the support of divine, who are egoistic and arrogant and think the actions are all just taken by them. In such a scenario, who is Mohini? She becomes the Maya or the spiritual illusion in this Samsara Sagara ( Material ocean) who makes us her pawns in this divine dance drama.
If we think with such an interpretation Mohini is the Maya or the grand illusion in which we humans play act our part without realizing this great drama being orchestrated by the divine. Devas realized that Mohini was the illusory avatar played by Vishnu only after becoming humble and asking for help from the Trinity. Remember first they went and asked for the help from the Trinity, only then the Samudra Mathanam started.
Let us go back to our analysis. First, the Devas or the humans who have realized their mistake of being egotistical or arrogant, repent their mistakes, go and ask the divine for help and the all-compassionate divine suggests to do Samudra Mathana. Remember we discussed Samudra Mathana before. It is the churning of our mindscape between good and evil thoughts and patterns we are addicted to and finally we get the realization that we have Amrit or the divine knowledge of immortality; namely, each one of us has a soul, that is immortal and eternal and part of the divine.
But even after the realization is everyone served the Amrit? No, the Amrit is served by Mohini or Maya only to those people who embrace Deva like qualities such as Satya, Dharma and Karuna (Honesty, righteousness and compassion) along with divine grace to know that the dance drama of grand illusion is played by the divine and with Mohini or Maya's help we can be served the Amrit. By partaking it we can become free of our thoughts of being weak, helpless and limited and realize that we are strong with enormous power, wisdom, and limitlessness and we are eternal and immortal (This is always from the perspective of the soul and not the body). And we are limited only by our thoughts and we have the eternal support of divine.
 | |
| Mohini offering Amrit By Norvanamim (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 |
This is because in the case of the Asuras they were under the influence of the alcohol. Here we can use alcohol as a metaphor for power, prestige, fame, money, addiction and other emotions like jealousy, envy, anger, doubt, fear, shame etc. Only after coming out of this metaphorical grip of alcohol can we get the divine nectar of immortal wisdom. Once out of this vice-like grip of alcohol the same Maya transforms into Mohini, the divine feminine form of the supreme Brahman and we will be served the Amrit of eternal knowledge and wisdom.
But anyone who still has the inclination for the alcohol of power, prestige and other lower tendencies, their mindscape gets eternally churned without ever getting anywhere near the Amrit and they are always served the metaphorical liquor of materialism and worldliness. But people who behave in a righteous manner are served the eternal elixir and with the help of the divine, recapture the heaven with all the power, prestige, money and luxury. See the paradox! The Devas end up getting the same thing Asuras are striving for but in a much easier fashion with the help of the divine while partaking the eternal elixir of knowledge and wisdom as well.
So now a few questions to all - Is it better to be a Deva or an Asura? Who is better - Mohini or Maya? Should we get the eternal elixir or metaphorical liquor? It is always our free will and choice!
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: Mohini to Ayyappa!
Note: Images taken from Wikimedia Commons, in the Public domain of the U.S.A as well as created by Swaroopa.
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".
All rights reserved to the author (SwaroopaStargazer) and SwaroopaBlog.
To my Blog readers: As all of you know, the European Union has passed laws regarding the collection of user data. This is just to inform all my EU blog readers, I use Google Analytics, which Google provides, to look at from where readers are reading my blogs. I also use Specific feeds for their service for subscription. I don't collect or intend to collect user data to sell or provide to third-party applications. Regards,
SwaroopaBlog.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions and viewpoints shared here are that of the author/owner only. Even though the author/owner will try to research well before posting the information, the author/owner of this blog does not make any portrayal of the accuracy or correctness of the content on this blog or the links provided. The author/owner will not be liable for any omissions or inaccuracies occurred. The author/owner will not be liable for any damages or losses due to the use or display of this blog. These terms and conditions can change at any time. This blog is purely for informational purposes only.
©SwaroopaStargazer and Swaroopa, 2017.
![See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIndra_deva.jpg){kind=link}
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