Jayasree Saranathan: Vegetarianism

Showing posts with label Vegetarianism. Show all posts

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Does Sanathana Dharma support eating meat? (Part 2)

Part 1 :- Does Sanathana Dharma support eating meat? (Part-1)

Excerpted from an article by Mr Shrivathsa.B.

Full text can be read at https://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/the-hindu-view-of-food-and-drink-a-critique-shrivathsa-b/

The definitive argument against eating any form of meat is found in the most ancient text concerning Vedic rites, the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. The eighth and ninth khaṇḍas of the sixth adhyāya contains a brāhmaṇic story of a puruṣa who was about to be sacrificed in a yajña (conducted by devas). The best material in him escapes because of the fear of death and enters various animal bodies and escapes them in sequence. It finally enters earth and then the grains. The sum and substance of the brāhmaṇic story is that the person conducting a sacrificial rite using puroḍāsha (a grain preparation) is indeed doing an animal sacrifice. This is because of the yajña paśu has passed the bodies of various animals, earth and finally the grains. The drift being that grains have the best essence of all animals and the earth. The text also provides equivalence between the body parts of an animal and the different parts of a grain.

This seems to suggest that there was either (1) a parallel tradition which practiced sacrifices using grain alone; or (2) an opprobrium associated with animal sacrifice—which led to a brāhmaṇic story such as the above.

In any of the above cases it can be safely argued that the concept of sacrifices of the animal variety as the only means of attaining heaven was being reviewed by the ancients (thereby the story extolling grain over meat).

Animal sacrifice prohibited according Mahābhārata

The anuśāsana parva of Mahābhārata holds a view strictly against animal sacrifice of any sort. This is explained by the story of King Vasu. The story being: A king by name Vasu goes to heaven as a result of conducting yajñas. After he reached heaven, there happens to be a debate among the devas and ṛṣis about the use of goats, etc. in sacrifice. In this debate, the devas are in favour of goat sacrifice and ṛṣis favour oblation of unsprouted seeds. The tussle is about the word “aja” which can either mean unsprouted seeds or a goat. They decide that as Vasu has reached heaven performing yajñas, he is the right person to be consulted. Vasu, who is now a deva himself decides to be partial to the deva view and gives the verdict in favour of goats being killed. As a result of this, he is cursed immediately to be born on earth as a snake.

Were ancient Hindus beef-eaters? {as though they were eating beef at least once a week (if not every day)}. Let us ask a few questions and answer them.

Que: Who are the ancients who are supposed to have eaten beef, if at all?

Ans: A subset of Brahmins called yājñika Brahmins who have done or taken part in somayāga. This is a “difficult” yāga to conduct owing to the requirement of numerous priests of a very high erudition. Generally the convention was for the yajamāna and his next seven generations to carry surnames such as somayājī,vājapeyī, etc. Any cursory population analysis of the Brahmins will reveal that the number is minuscule. Brahmins had other vocations such as temple duties, official duties in the royal court and the like. In fact, some communities in Brahmins are classified as (1) Kammis (corruption of “karmī”, i.e. worker) who were predominantly officials by tradition. (2) Ācārya: who were traditional school teachers. (3) Joshi: the ones predominantly traditional astrologers (4) Purāṇika: the ones who were traditional story tellers, bards etc. This being the case, the number of those who have eaten beef, if at all, is minuscule.

Que: How often did they eat beef (if at all)?

Ans: Somayāga was not a daily event. It had strict restrictions on its conduct including restrictions on

the time of the year: certain varṇas had to conduct it in certain seasons;
the yajamāna (the one on behalf of whom the yajña is conducted): before even beginning a somayāga, he should have (a) been an āhitāgni, (b) conducted the sapta pāka and sapta havissamsthas. Except in the case of a chosen few who probably had royal backing, to be an āhitāgni and have finished the samsthas is quite difficult practically;
Ayajño vā etadadakṣiṇaḥ (that which doesn’t have substantial dakṣiṇā is not fit to be called a yajna) goes a famous maxim. Stories abound in itihāsaand purāṇa about kings giving away everything they had. The rājasūyasacrifice calls for giving away even the loin cloth worn by the king. Given this, the number of those even among even the yājñikas who were regularly conducting yāga is logically low;
once seven Somayāgas are done, the yajamāna is supposed to have attained the merit of going to heaven, hence it isn’t necessary for him to do any more yāgas. So, at the most, he and the priests may have eaten beef seven times in their life (if at all).

Friday, April 15, 2016

Story told by Sita to Rama has a message to non-vegetarians.

On this Rama Navami day, let me recall a story told by Sita to Rama that is found in Aranya khanda of Valmiki Ramayana. Sita talks about a Dharma of shunning cruelty to people with whom there is no enmity. This idea is relevant in shunning meat food too, as meat is procured by killing the hapless animal which had not done any harm to the eater and to the one who kills it for selling as food. This particular episode in Aranya khanda is vital for understanding that Rama did not eat meat as per any verse of Valmiki Ramayana. A discussion on this was earlier done by me in my blog Does Sanathana Dharma support eating meat? (Part-1)

The setting is in Aranya Khanda after meeting the sage Suteekshna. He requests Rama to vanquish the demons of Dandaka forest as they were constantly giving trouble to the sages like him who are engaged in ascetic life in the forest. Rama agrees to do that. Sita hands over the bows and swords to Rama and Lakshmana. But she is distressed while doing that. She expresses that to Rama which can be read in 9^th sarga in Aranya khanda.

She says that there are three definite products of self- gratification that arise from desire. One is speaking falsehood. The second is desire for another man’s wife. The third is cruelty without enmity. The first two are irrelevant in Rama’s case. But by agreeing to Suteekshna’s request Rama is at the verge of sticking to the third, namely cruelty without enmity.

Sita goes on to explain that Rama is set out to destroy the people whom he does not know and with whom he has no prior enmity. Rama has come to the forest to lead the life of a sage. His parents would be happy to only hear that of him. But by taking up the arms now, the faculty of the weapons would eventually come to stick to him.

To explain this Sita tells the story of a sage who lived in the forest amidst animals that adored him. He never intended to do any harm to any life. As if to challenge his nature, once Indra came to him and asked to him to take care of his sword until he returned. The sage agreed and started to guard that sword. To keep up his promise, he could not leave the sword when he went out to do his daily chores. So he started carrying that weapon all the time. But what happens is that the faculty of the weapon comes to stick to the carrier of that weapon. Anger, infuriation and ultimately the propensity to use the weapon driven by such faculties overpowered the sage. As a result the sage did things that led him to hell.

Sita says that all this happened owing to the reason of associating with a weapon constantly, and the sequel of constant association with weapon is as good as constant association with fire.

Rama being a kshatriya has already carried the weapons, but that was in Ayodhya. In the Dandaka forest where he has come to lead a life of a hermit he must not carry it as the association with it would cause him to injure people with whom he has no enmity, even though they happen to be demons. As a Kshatriya he can use weapons (cruelty) only as a means to protect the suffering people. Otherwise the constant contact with weapons would transfer the quality of weapons to him and make him act as directed by that quality.

Rama convinces her that by agreeing to the request of Suteekshna he is only agreeing to protect him and other sages. So it is perfectly justifiable to kill the demons unknown to him and with whom he has no direct enmity. After all it is only for the protection of the hapless ones, he is going to kill the people with whom he has no direct enmity.

The outward message of this episode is that Rama is always there for protection of suffering people. But the inner message of this episode that he will not do any harm to any life where there is no enmity with him and that wherever such cruelty is perceived to be done by him it was for the purpose of protecting some deserving people who has suffered on account of those people.

And this nature – not being cruel to beings that have in no way harmed you or not being an enemy with you – is the justification for shunning food got by killing animals. Sita tells this tendency – cruelty without enmity – as one of the three desires of man that are fundamental to self- gratification. Killing a life for the gratification of the stomach is therefore not desirable. Such a thing is permitted only in the case of saving life when one is dying of starvation (Apad Dharma).

Based on this one can say that Rama could have never eaten food that was procured by killing a life. The so-called verses in Valmiki Ramayana that are interpreted by non-vegetarian lovers as indicating that Rama ate meat are pure mis-interpretations.

That Sanatna Dharma had never supported food procured by killing can also be noted in the way one Satyavratha earned the name “Trishanku”. According to Harivamsam, tri-shanku means three blemishes. Satyavratha came to be called as Trishanku due to three blemishes or dosha he had.

One is pithru dosha - common form is the debt to one’s parents that is unpaid.

The second is Guru droha by having killed the milk cow (Kamadhenu – the wish-giver) of Vashishta - a common form of this is the harm done to environment and others while fulfilling one’s wishes.

The third is eating unsanctified food. This does not mean that meat got by killing an animal can be sanctified by means of mantras or prayers. As cruelty without enmity is the dictum, meat itself is unsanctified food. Eating that would create its own karma which cannot wiped out by prayers but by undergoing the same suffering that the animals underwent.

One must not interpret this dictum – cruelty without enmity – to mean that cruelty is justified if there is enmity. In the case of enmity when one is drawn into tit for tat like fights, whatever justification is there on the part of one to inflict injury on the other would to some extent modify the retributive karma that accrues out of that act. In the case of cruelty without enmity as in the case of killing life for food, there is absolutely no justification that can reduce the retributive / resultant karma that accrues to one for having been the cause for that cruelty to a hapless life.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

New discoveries around “Great Attractor” reveal importance of ‘Trishanku’ as a marker in the South!

{This article can also be read at www.academia.edu The link is here }

Of two discoveries in cosmology reported last month (Feb 2016), the one pertaining to the first evidence of Gravitational waves released by colliding black holes received all round attention. But the other discovery about the Great Attractor has a greater relevance from the point of view of Vedic cosmology. Great Attractor is a location in the southern sky that is hidden from our view because it is on the other side of our Milky Way galaxy. The special interest in this Great Attractor is due to the reason that our Milky Way along with many galaxies that we see around are rushing towards this region in the sky. We are accelerating towards this region which is about 150 million light years away, but we could not know what is pulling us or attracting us. The name Great attractor is due to this pulling effect. But now a team of researchers have identified hidden galaxies in this region that are causing the “Great” attraction.

(CLICK THE FIGURES TO SEE ENLARGED VERSIONS)

(Hubble Telescope image of the region of the sky where the Great Attractor is located. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Attractor )

The discovery of the great attraction potential of this group that has more or less ‘sealed’ the fate of our Milky Way galaxy to move only towards the southern direction runs counter to the idea of Hindu Thought that south is for pithrus (departed ancestors getting into the cycle of rebirth) while north is for exit into the world of Devas and of no return to samsara (cycle of rebirth). One may argue that such a Hindu idea may be about spiritual realms and the physical movement of the worlds may have nothing to do with that.

In this context two ideas of the Hindu Thought on cosmology stand out distinctly with reference to directions. One is that our Universe is moving towards the star Mrigashirsha in Taurus. This is the Eastern direction. In other words, our Universe is moving towards eastern direction. The other idea is that groups of stars (Nakshatra vamsham) and worlds (lokas) were created by the sage Vishvamitra (friend of the cosmos) in the southern direction which was just opposite to the worlds of Devas in the North.

The direction (South) of our Milky Way galaxy and the direction of the movement of our growing Universe in the east look a bit complex. But a deeper understanding of what lies beyond the Great Attractor and behind the Milky Way (from the recent discoveries) gives a newer understanding of the legend of Trishanku and how that legend has been skilfully woven to indicate a cosmic truth. It also reveals that the ultimate direction of Milky Way may not necessarily be south, thereby concurring with the Hindu views.

To explain this let me begin with our location in the sky and how our Milky Way is moving forward. Our Milky Way Galaxy is part of a local group of many galaxies that move around the Virgo Super cluster. This super cluster of many galaxies can be identified by the Virgo constellation. Interestingly, this constellation coinciding with Solar transit occurs in the solar month of Virgo (called as Purattasi in Tamil) when the important annual ancestor ceremony called Pithru Paksha is observed. That means the Hindus have recognised this constellation (Virgo) and the direction where it is seen, as the place where departed souls go. In reality our earth along with the Sun and Milky Way galaxy is moving towards this constellation.

This attraction towards Virgo Super cluster does not stop with that. Along with the Milky Way, the Virgo Super cluster is moving towards the Great Attractor. Until now we could not know what lies at the location where the Great Attractor is hypothesised. But the recent discoveries revealed that there are several massive galaxies in the region of Great Attractor. The Hydra - Centaurus Super cluster is a main cluster in this group that facilitates the attraction making our galaxy and all the others in our vicinity to fall towards it like water flowing towards a pit.

In this picture, the filaments are pathways along which the galaxies are moving. The Milky Way galaxy is moving in the pathway that leads to Virgo cluster. The Virgo cluster leads to the Great Attractor. Almost all the galaxies in the visible part of the Universe are attracted to this Great Attractor. The green areas indicate density of galaxies while the blue and dark blue regions indicate voids.

The entire mass of super clusters along with the great Attractor is called as Laniakea which means “immeasurable Heaven” in Hawaiian language. The above picture condensed into the cluster of Laniakea is shown below.

The dense clusters of stellar mass are seen in green. The blue ones are voids. The blue dot is the Milky Way in this picture.

Another view of Laniakea.

We are in the border region of Laniakea and the filaments show that we may be moving towards the central dense region of Laniakea.

But there is a curious fact about this location. Laniakea with its great attracting potential is not alone. It seems to be shaking hands with another similar super cluster in the North known as Perseus - Pisces Super Cluster. The two are like two power centres, attracting the galactic material towards them. There is a watershed like border between them where the pathways diverge in opposite directions towards the core of these two super clusters. This can be understood by the following figure.

On the left is Laniakea (Great Attractor) cluster with filaments showing the movement of galaxies towards it. Just adjacent to it, on the right is Perseus- Pisces cluster with filaments showing movement of galaxies towards it. Where they meet, the filaments may go either way. That means galactic material could go either way. As seen from the earth, the Laniakea is in the south and Pisces is in the northern direction. Their interaction can be understood better by the following diagram.

Check this video:-

https://youtu.be/rENyyRwxpHo

These two are just a single pair like many other pairs or groups of clusters in the Universe, but what makes them special for us is that we are on the borderline between the two clusters. There is Laniakea on our south and Pisces at our north. Which direction are we going? What is our ultimate destination, Laniakea or Perseus – Pisces? At the moment we are being attracted towards Laniakea, towards the South. But this is something counter to Vedic idea of our existence and future ‘existence’ or the path of our journey towards Liberation or Moksha.

The Vedic idea always attaches importance to Northern direction. North is the direction of growth while south is the direction of death. North signifies Meru, the apex in any context. In the context of cosmic voyage of our earth as part of the Milky Way Galaxy, we must be surging towards or revolving towards the Northern parts. But the current knowledge says that we are moving towards the South.

One may argue that directions such as north and south are meaningless in the cosmos. But in Vedic parlance any item can be identified to have directions. The front is head (east), the back is tail (puccham) which can be equated with west. The right side is south and the left side is north. And there is central body (refer 2^nd chapter in Taittriya Upanishad for more details in this regard). As per this, our existence in this galaxy is moving towards east (head) and the swirling movement could be from north to south (Pradakshina).

Thinking in these lines, the presently detected movement towards Laniakea in the south could be just part of the ‘pradakshina’ while surging towards east. This means there is a definite direction in the Universe through which we are moving. This also means Universe is likely to have a direction for its expansion. Though by nature the universe is bulging and expanding on all sides (like Brahman whose root verb ‘brih’ means huge and growing) it must be surging forward in a direction.

As per Vedic Thought, the star Mrigashirsha signifies the direction in which we are moving forward. This star is in Taurus sign and can be seen like the ‘three eyes’ of a coconut, on one side of Orion constellation.

The three consecutive stars, Rohini, Mrigashirsha and Arudra are lorded by the Trinities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Of these, Mrigashirsha shows the ‘mArga’ or the route towards which we are going. This is the eastern direction. The constellation of Taurus lies in this direction.

The amazing information in the environs of Laniakea is that there is void in the direction of Taurus which is called Taurus Void. A void is an empty region where not much galactic material is found. There are very less number of stars and galaxies in the region making it markedly look void compared to the surrounding regions. A recent research found out that voids contain the seeds of new stars or in other words, they contain matter from which gas, dust, stars and galaxies would evolve later. This description perfectly fits with our Hindu Thought that our Universe is moving forward in the direction of a massive Void in the direction of Taurus.

The Taurus Void is shown in the picture above. It is bordering the Perseus- Pisces super cluster. The Milky Way lies close to it. Another picture with more details is shown below.

As per Vedic Thought our Milky Way must be moving towards Taurus void as Mrigashirsha lies in that direction only. While surging towards Taurus Void, we are making a Pradakshina from north to south and therefore we seem to be moving towards Laniakea in the south.

The directions as we see in the above picture and in all the pictures that are available on the internet on Laniakea and Perseus- Pisces super clusters have a reverse appearance. These directions can be best understood by means of the horoscopy diagram.

Our Milky Way galaxy must be moving towards the direction shown as east. (The Taurus Void is in that direction).While moving it is rotating from north to south. Presently it appears to be moving towards south. But there will come a time when it will be seen to move towards North (Pisces constellation). While moving in rotating motion, it is surging forward in the Taurus Void.

The presence of a massive void in the direction of forward movement gives interesting connection to the Vedic concept of Brahma seated on a lotus surging with the cosmic waters. The lotus stalk emerges from the navel of Narayana or Hiranyagarbha from whom the life sap is being drawn. This is a metaphor drawn from the idea of how a foetus is growing in the womb by being connected to the umbilical cord and drawing its life essence from the cord.

The human creation (the ultimate creation of Brahman) happens along the path that the lotus grows. The lotus flower (with Brahma seated on it) will always be on top of the cosmic waters. As the cosmic waters grow and expand, the lotus stalk also grows taking the human creation along its path. Every point in space where the lotus moves must have been a void and it gets filled up as the created world is carried along. Only on the path of the lotus stalk connecting Creator Brahma with the umbilical cord of the Brahman (Eternal God of Paramatma), there is life or life giving sap.

This explanation might sound absurd, but it is a logical explanation. The entire universe as we see around us has several galaxies but it is empty of life. It is like how only one sperm is capable of creating life while millions of sperms accompany it. For that one sperm to spring into a new life, the presence of millions of sperms all around that sperm is needed. Simultaneous growth of those sperms from inception is also needed, but only one among them can form a new life. Similarly, with creation of millions of galaxies all around us, only we in our Milky Way galaxy have the seed of life.

This also pre-supposes that we are located in the lotus stalk, receiving divine sap of existence from the Almighty (Brahman) at the base and guidance from Knowledge of the four-faced Brahma at the top. In this set-up the ultimate destination is merger with Divinity only (to be Divine). An idea of the surging lotus and life emanating worlds going along that path can be depicted as follows.

As per the Vedic thought, the ultimate exit point is in North, also known as the Swarga or world of Devas. The path leading to that is known as Devayana. It is in the northern direction and identified with the location where we find the constellation of Pisces. So our world in the Milky Way galaxy must ultimately travel towards north and not south. But the discovery of movement of Milky Way Galaxy towards the Great Attractor in the southern direction can only be explained by means of the above figure.

In that figure, the Milky Way is shown as a small circle in red. It is numbered 1.At the location 1, it is following a direction towards the south, leading to the Great Attractor. But this cannot be the final destination. The location of Milky Way in the water shed area bordering Perseus- Pisces Super cluster is an indicator that ultimately we will make a turn-around and move northward.

When the Milky Way reaches no2, there is a turnaround (rotating movement) towards the North, Pisces. That may take millions of years. By the time the Milky Way reaches no 3, the entire design of the Milky Way may have changed or distorted or merged with some other galaxy. The Sun and the solar system also may have vanished by then. But what continues is Life in that path in some other star system of some other galaxy that is travelling at that time in the path of Brahma, the lotus stalk. By the time the lotus stalk makes one swirl in the cosmic waters while surging forward, the present system of Life supported by the present system of cosmic laws would be over.

The four faced Brahma would exit along with the Jeevas that have attained Liberation by then. But the remaining Jeevas get back to the Hiranyagarbha. They are personified as His snake bed (Adisesha).

The three layers of the snake bed signify the three Gunas (Sattwa, Rajasa and Tamasa) of the Jeevas. The five hood of the snake signifies the basic 5 factors (Pancha Bhuta) along with their attributes. These 2 (3 Gunas and 5 Bhutas) are what make the Jeevas bound and require to be shed only through births and rebirths. For that to happen, the Brahman once again gets manifest through Hiranyagarbha. The worlds and Life once again get manifest with four-faced Brahma at the lotus. This is the basic concept of Creation in Hindu Thought, a fraction of which we could see in the movement of our galaxy in the watershed between southern Laniakea identified by the constellation of Centaurus and northern Pisces constellation which always signifies path of Moksha or Devayana.

In this context, the Vedic concept of Northern path or Solar path aided by ‘light in the form of fire’ and Uttrayana (northern movement of the Sun), leading to Liberation once for all and the Southern path or Lunar path identified by ‘smoke’ (Dhuma) and Dakshinayana (southern movement of the Sun), which makes the departed Jeevas to be born again on earth have some significance. {Refer Bhagavad Gita (VIII – 23 to 26) and Brahma Sutras (4-2-18 to 20) for details of Northern or Solar path and Southern or Lunar Path}.

Taking insights from Upanishads, Acharya Ramanuja deduces that though people like Bhishma waited for the Northern path (Uttarayana) to reach the state of no-return-to-earth, for the knower of Brahman, there is no distinction between the solar and lunar paths. Bhishma had a choice to choose the time of leaving the earthy coils. So he waited. For others of his calibre, even if they die during the Dakshinayana and are therefore drawn by the Lunar path, they would ultimately attain Brahman once Uttarayana sets in. What is understood from this is that northern movement or movement through North is the way to Liberation. This must suit the way the ‘lotus’ surges and also the way our space of existence must soar. This also indicates direction of movement is important in cosmology to reach specific realms.

It is in this context, the story of Trishanku and Trishanku Swarga where he is in upside-down position (falling from North to South) has relevance.

The legend of Trishanku.

The legend of Trishanku is explained in 4 chapters of Bala khanda in Valmiki Ramayana. The legend is unique in itself for, there is a narration of creating stellar worlds in the southern direction, as a replica of the stellar worlds of the North dominated by the Sapta Rishi mandala or the Big Dipper towards which the earth’s axial rotation is oriented.

The ultimate message of that story is that Trishanku was pushed down from the North and Vishwamitra created a world for Trishanku in the South and ordained that all the stars in the south would circumambulate Trishanku. In cosmological terms, this can happen only if the south pole of the earth is oriented towards Trishanku, so that the stars in the south would seem to be circumambulating Trishanku! In other words, only if Trishanku was made (or personified as) the South Pole star just like Dhruva, born to Uttanapada and Suniti was made as the Northern pole star, this can happen. But the story of Trishanku is not explicit about it being the pole star. This is investigated further in this paper.

As has always been the way with the Hindu myths, the etymology of the terms and names in the legend help in unlocking the hidden meaning.

Let us first take the name Trishanku. Trishanku was a noble ruler of the solar dynasty. The name Trishanku is a derivate of three-shanku or three ‘sins’ or 'fears' or 'darts' or blemishes. The first blemish was father’s curse that came when he misbehaved with his father. The second blemish was to have killed the milch cow of Vasishta. The third blemish was to have eaten unsanctified meat of his kill. All these three blemishes made him known as Trishanku – the one who carries three blemishes. That these three blemishes are common to any human being can be known from the name of his father, which is “Suryaaruna”. This name is closer to mean Surya’s ruNa (Surya’s debt) than Surya+ aruna.

All of us are sons of Surya, the Sun. We are being taken along by the Sun in its journey guided by the Sapta rishis. In this way the Sun is our father and we are all indebted to it. In the course of our birth and countless rebirths in our journey along with the Sun, we incur three debts. One is the debt to our biological parents, which we incur birth after birth. The second is incurred when we extract the wealth of the “Milch cow of Vasishta”. This cow is known as kamadhenu which is a euphemism for prosperity of every kind. In our human birth we strive for a variety of riches and in the course of getting them we incur a number of sins knowingly or unknowingly. A majority of our so called Prarabhda karma are related to material conquests. This is the second blemish which we mindlessly accumulate.

The third blemish refers to the sins in acquiring our food. It must be sattwic food where no suffering is done to any being while collecting our food and eating it. Here is hidden the reference to the need to go for vegetarian food and shun killing a life to make our meals. This third blemish is carried my many human beings.

So all these 3 blemishes make one lose the power and entitlement to soar to the heavens or Deva loka or the exit point of samsara (rebirth). As per Trishanku story, he could not go the Heavens with his mortal body. This actually refers to the three blemishes he (or anyone for that matter) carried. These three blemishes bind one to the cycle of rebirths. Without having shed these three blemishes, it is not possible to go to Heavens which is an abode or a state of no-return-to-earth to discharge karma. Trishanku was not freed of the three blemishes and this is indicated by the description of him having a haggard body. The presence of the three blemishes gave him the name, Trishanku.

Such a Trishanku could not go to the heavens. Whatever be his other merits, his so called surge towards spiritual growth had to take a U-turn and he fell down. This is told as Trishanku falling upside down. This refers to the direction north to south as North is the location of Heavens. In the upside down position, the head would be forward. Always the direction of the head shows the direction in which we are going. The upside down position means Trishanku (us with the 3 blemishes) was heading towards South, the direction that indicates Pithru loka from where we keep shuttling between earthy life and pithru life and end up in rebirths only.

It is at this juncture, Vishwamitra makes interference. He stops Trishanku from falling down to the South completely.

The location of Trishanku

Vishwamitra stalls the further fall and equips him with the worlds that resemble the path to Deva loka. More importantly he creates the Sapta Rishis of the Southern direction (Valmiki Ramayana, 1-6- 21). The Sapta rishi mandala of the northern direction goes round the pole stars of different times. A Sapta Rishi mandala in the south must therefore go round the southern pole stars at different times. Before exploring that part in the sky, let us proceed with the remaining part of Trishanku story.

Vishwamitra was dissuaded from continuing the Creation of worlds as creation is the sole prerogative of the Almighty (Brahman). Vishwamitra relented only after he extracted a promise that Trishanku would remain as a star and that all those who want to go to heavens must go round Trishanku. The word used here is ‘anuyaasyanthi’ अनुयास्यन्ति (VR 1-6-32). It means to strive like him (Trishanku). In the context of a star, it means to go around the star of Trishanku or circumambulate that star or that region of the sky.

In literal terms this means similar rotation of the sky around a point in the South Pole, or to be in circumpolarity around the southern pole star.

Valmiki Ramayana (1-60- 20,21,22) says, "Like the other Creator that resplendent Vishwamitra, himself staying among sages, has replicated Southerly Sapta Rishis (Ursa Major) in southerly direction. And still remaining amidst of sages that highly reputed sage Vishvamitra further started to replicate the stereotyped stocks of stars sequentially, resorting to the southern hemisphere, as he is convulsed in anger at Indra”

He continued to tell, “Let there be eternal heaven to Trishanku with his mortal body. Next, as long as the worlds remain, let all of these stars and galaxies I have created also remain eternally in their places as my creation. It will be apt of you all gods to accede to this.' [VR - 1-60-28, 29]

Then comes the crucial verse on the status of the worlds created that include the southern Sapta Rishi:

"When all the gods are addressed thus they replied the eminent saint Vishwamitra saying, 'so be it! Safe you be! Let all the created objects prevail in their respective places. Those amazing and numerous stars you have created will remain in firmament, but outside the path of stelliform of Cosmic Person. Trishanku will also remain in the circle of stars you created, but upside-down, for Indra's indict cannot be annulled, and he will be gleaming like a star and similar to any celestial. [VR - 1-60-30, 31, 32a]

This creation is outside the path of Vaishvanara (‘वैश्वानर पथात् बहिः’)

What is Vaishvanara?

An understanding of Vaishvanara would help to unravel further the mystery of the myth of Trishanku.

Vaishvanara is the name for the Cosmic Almighty which is in the form of a kind of Agni.

Vaishvanara is Narayana who is none other than Brahman, says Jaimini in the Brahma Sutras.

Krishna as Gitacharya says that He, as VaishvAnara, the gastric juice is pervading all beings. This idea that Vaishvanara exists in every being as the fire that eats food is conveyed in Kathopanishad in the story of Yama having failed to treat Nachiketas as athithi in whom Vaishvanara, the Agni personified Brahman is left to starve. The core of this idea is that Vaishvanara signifies life force! (For details read my article here).

In this context Chandogya Upanishad says, "This VaishvAnara Self extending from Heaven to the earth," (Chandogya - V-XVIII-1).

The Puranic lore gives us further insights on understanding and locating Vaishvanara in the sky in the context of star Agastya.

Location of Agastya

The location of Agastya (Canopus) is given in Brahmanda Purana (Ch 21-verse 101 and 102) and Vayu Purana (Ch 50- verses 155 & 156) as lying south of Nagaveethi, and north of LokAloka and outside the path of Vaishvanara.

Nagaveethi is a reference to Capricorn as known from another verse in Vayu Purana (Ch 50- 130) that says that when the Sun turns to the north (winter solstice) in three stars from Abhijit, Shravana and Dhanishtha, it is said to be in Nagaveethi.

South of Nagaveethi refers to Dakshinayana, i.e. southern hemisphere. So the first reference of Agastya is that it is in southern part of the sky.

The next reference is its location north of Lokaloka which is the Milky Way. Milky Way is so called in the Puranas because all worlds (loka) are present in it. The Milky Way extends till Gemini in visual observation and Agastya is seen north of the Milky Way arm.

Canopus (Agastya) lies at north of Milky Way (Lokaloka)

This location of Agastya is outside the path of Vaishvanara, say the two Puranas.

In the 54 degree to and fro oscillation of equinoxes recognised by the Vedic society (check my video HERE) and the corresponding movement of pole stars within 54 degrees (check my video HERE), the path of life force can be said to pass through the axis of the earth connecting north and South Pole. With Agastya always lying outside the southern polar point in the 54 degree arc (that can be delineated from the section of the polar path between the years 2299 CE and 1301 BCE), one can deduce that Vaishvanara is indeed the axis connecting north and south poles.

Trishanku outside Vaishvanara

In Trishanku episode the Gods told that whatever Vishwamitra had created (the southern Sapta Rishi et al) would remain outside the path of Vaishvanara. (‘वैश्वानर पथात् बहिः’). That means they would be outside the Southern poles or the axis of the earth. In other words, life cannot exist in the direction of South around Trishanku loka!

With Trishanku loka becoming a kind of landmark around which those are going to heavens must go round, it is implied that our present sojourn towards the South will not be continuous. Our Milky Way galaxy has to take a turn around after going towards the South. The present location of the Milky Way in the border between Laniakea and Perseus – Pisces super cluster is a defining moment in space- time. Before analysing the constellations of Trishanku and Sapta rishis in that direction, there are 2 questions to be analysed.

Question no 1:-

Why should Trishanku with the three blemishes be helped to reach the impossible (reaching Heavens) when he is not qualified enough?

In reality all of us are like Trishanku. We are entrapped in the karmic cycle with our triple blemishes. Trishanku episode shows that not all is lost even if one is triple bad. There is a way out. The answer lies in Vishwamitra in having come to his rescue and guidance. Vishwamitra means the friend of the Universe. In all the three blemishes, the one who overcomes them comes in the good books of the ‘Friend of the Universe”. Such a person would inevitably get his dues, that of gaining heaven or a heaven of his own. What is conveyed in this is that every person must pay off his debt to his creator (parents and the Sun), must not spoil the world in his quest for prosperity for self and must not harm any creature in getting his food. The one who meticulously takes care of these three debts would eventually be freed of getting into the karmic cycle or rebirths. Such a person will be dear to the Friend of the Universe and would become a Universe unto himself. Wherever he is, there is heaven. This is the import of Trishanku story.

However in Trishanku story, Trishanku attained Heavens, inspite of having the three blemishes, mainly because he sought the guidance of the “Friend of the Universe”.

As Vishwamitra himself gets into action to help Trishanku having the three blemishes, it is deduced that, that element which is the Friend of the Universe is there to help us only if we seek or desire to reach the Heavens (liberated from Karmic cycle). Perhaps the Gayatri mantra revealed by Vishwamitra was an attempt by him to relieve us of the three blemishes by meditating on the three levels of existence (Bhu, Bhuva, Sva) at the Solar path. This mantra is supposed to protect the one who repeats / meditates on it. Such a protection perhaps offers a release from the three blemishes and also helps the one who meditates, not to create new blemishes of these types.

Question no 2:

Why did the sages infuse a cosmic element of a kind which is not found in any other myths created to educate people? This is the only story where a person, a sage who has been given an apt-to-context name Vishwamitra, is found to create stars and galaxies and even a replica of Sapta Rishi mandala – all in the direction which is opposite to Deva loka or Devayana or the route of Brahma. Why identify a star as Trishanku and create an area for Trishanku?

Any attempt to find an answer to this would invariably point out to the presence of the knowledge of cosmic spheres towards which our earth is aligned. The discovery of the southern point around which the worlds turn towards north was perhaps made by Vishwamitra who also discovered the blemishes that obstruct one from soaring spiritual heights and the method to overcome the obstructions. Perhaps the sages created the story of Trishanku with an impossible element of creation of stars by an earthbound person, to make that story live on in memory for ever. The spiritual import had been conveyed down the ages by sages, but the cosmic truth could only be known only when they are unravelled by science. Now with the discovery of Great Attractor and path of the Milky Way, Trishanku story has greater relevance.

Locating Trishanku, the star.

First we must locate the star Trishanku. In popular theory, the star “Alpha Centauri.” is identified as Trishanku. Modern research shows that it is actually a triplet! We see it as a single star. It is actually three stars merged to look like one star! This goes with the Trishanku idea of 3 in one. The three stars are Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B and Proxima Centauri. Though this star Alpha Centauri is regarded as the nearest star to our earth, in reality its component Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to the Solar system. Its close proximity to the Sun is striking given that Trishanku’s father was Suryaruna and he belonged to the Solar dynasty.

View of Alpha Centauri from the Digitized Sky Survey 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri#/media/File:The_bright_star_Alpha_Centauri_and_its_surroundings.jpg

One can never miss Alpha Centauri in the Southern sky. During summer months (presently after midnight), one can see the beautiful alignment of the Northern Sapta Rishi mandala with Alpha Centauri in the southern sky. Known as the Big Dipper, the Northern Sapta rishis make an alignment with stars Swati (Arcturus) and then Chitra (Spica) in Virgo constellation across the sky. Chithra will be more or less over head viewed from South India. Between Chithra and Alpha Centauri in the South, the sky looks dim (Dhuma / Lunar path / Southern path?) and without prominent stars. Now it has been found out to be the region of Great Attractor with many hidden galaxies. (Our Milky Way stars hide the vision at this region). For naked eye observation, one can see this region almost star less and then stars appearing in the south of which Alpha Centauri is prominent. The following diagram is what we see with naked eye on a summer night.

In the region of Alpha centauri, the southern Sapta Rishi Mandala must be present.

Though Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to the earth, it is seen as part of the larger Centaurus super cluster which is very far away. Closer home we are attracted by Virgo Super cluster. Beyond that the Great Attractor with a mass of 1000 trillion Suns is attracting us. Beyond that the more massive Hydra Centaurus Super cluster.is attracting us towards the core of Laniakea. Seen from the earth, Alpha Centauri looks like a part of the Hydra Centaurus group.

Next to Alpha Centauri is the easily identifiable Southern Cross, also known as Crux. According to popular belief, this Southern Cross is Vishwamitra!

As per the legend of Trishanku, there must be a Southern Sapta Rishi Mandala that circumambulates Trishanku. However by the reference of outside the Vaishvanara, Alpha Centauri can never be a pole star of the South. That it had never been a pole star is true when we take into consideration the 54 degree arc envisaged by the Vedic society.

Vishwamitra, the Crux is a pointer to the present Southern Pole Star. This pole star is known as Sigma Octantis. Just as how the northern sky seems to revolve around the Northern Pole star, Polaris (Dhruva Nakshatra), the southern sky revolves around this southern pole star. And Crux is seen in the Lokaloka (Milky Way) cluster.

(Pic courtesy http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2010/02/24/polar-inequities/ )

The northern pole star is pointed out by the northern Sapta Rishi Mandala (pic below) and Shishumara (Ursa Minor)

The southern pole star is pointed out by none other than Crux, the constellation that is identified as Vishwamitra. (Pic below)

(Pic courtesy http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2010/02/24/polar-inequities/)

The four starred Crux cannot be the regarded as the Sapta Rishi Mandala, because as the name indicates, there must be 7 prominent stars, somewhat like Northern Sapta Rishi mandala (Big Dipper in the constellation of Ursa Major) in the Southern Sapta Rishi Mandala. The above picture is what we see presently.

There is another interesting entity in this picture. It is Canopus which represents another important sage, namely Agasthya. According to a myth given in Srimad Bhagavatham, Vashishta and Agasthya were common sons of Varuna and Mitra, the 10^th son of Aditi. The myth says that when Varuna and Mitra saw Urvashi, the celestial nymph, they discharged semen. It was collected in an earthen pot and from the semen grew up Vashishta and Agasthya. They represented the two halves of the pot. This could mean Vashishta and Agasthya representing two halves or hemispheres of the sky as they both are circumpolar stars of the North and the South respectively.

Vashishta is the mind-born son of Brahma according to many other myths. But he is referred to as the son of Varuna and Mitra in the Agasthya myth. Therefore this myth seems to have been woven to indicate a particular idea, that of Vashishta being the counter part of Agasthya in the sky. Both of them are moving around the pole stars of their respective spheres.

Locating the Southern Sapta Rishi Mandala.

As per the Trishanku myth, Vishwamitra created a Sapta Rishi Mandala of 7 sages in the southern hemisphere similar to the Sapta Rishi Mandala of the northern hemisphere.

Let us first take a look at the Northern Sapta Rishi Mandala.

The seven stars joined by yellow line in the above picture are the Sapta rishis (7 sages) who are the pillars of Vedic religion and are supposed to guide in the evolution of mankind. They vary from time to time (Manvanthra). The current cosmic knowledge also says that the shape of this Sapta Rishi Mandala ( known as Big Dipper) changes with time.

Vishwamitra created a replica of this in the southern direction for the sake of Trishanku. Only Centaurus is available as a better candidate for being the southern replica of Sapta rishis. Following picture is that of Centaurus.

The Crux (Vishwamitra) is seen at the bottom. The bright star shown by pink arrow is Alpha Centauri or Trishanku. The following picture is a simple representation of these stars seen with naked eye.

The background Centaurus is also shown in the above picture. Somewhere from this Centaurus, the sages have deduced the southern Sapta Rishi Mandala. As it keeps rotating around the southern pole, it seems to go round Trishanku, owing to its location within Centaurus and towards the south in the inner side.

Trishanku is regarded as part of the Centaurus group that forms the core of Laniakea towards which we are moving. (Though Canopus (Agasthya) was once considered as part of Centaurus group (Scorpius- Centaurus Association), today it is not treated so by the astronomy community.)

A probable design of the southern Sapta Rishi Mandala that Vishwamitra identified (created as per the myth) could have been as follows.

As per this diagram, the 7 stars of the Centaurus constellation marked in yellow could make a circumambulation of Trishanku (Alpha Centauri) everyday as it moves in circumpolarity which is true for all times in the Vedic concept of 54 degree span of polar movement.

With South Pole marking the path of Vaishvanara, the Trishanku references point out to a turnaround of Centaurus / Laniakea in the region or direction of Trishanku which means that those looking for life in outer space can shift their focus away from this direction.

Jayasree Saranathan