Madhava Philosophy
Dwelling upon the inherent characteristics of man’s approach to man and the Creator, the Indian seers (Rishis) of ancient times divided human civilizations into four stages, of which the first and the last are subject to our discussion; rest two can be called transitional.
The first one termed as Satya Yuga denotes an Age characterized by righteousness, simplicity, oneness in thought and action. Its influence inspires one to look within into one’s own Self.
The last one known to be Kali Yuga denotes an Age characterized by vices, overt and covert resulting in loss of faith, deception in social interactions and addiction to various “-ism”s that leads the individual ego to rule supreme, forgetting the Supreme Himself. The gigantic barrier between He and we, God and His creation thus grows day by day. Under its influence men and women become extrovert in nature, materialistic and commercial in outlook, suffer from various incurable diseases due to their excesses and become indifferent to balance, order and discipline in life, thought and action disturbing universal equilibrium and harmony.
In fact, Satya and Kali are but a depiction of the characteristics of the universal human nature at the prevalent era. This is because mankind, being the crown jewel of creation exerts a huge influence and impact over the world’s environment at large and the balance of the global nature is dependent on the inclination (introvert / extrovert) and character (harmonious / chaotic / corrupt) of the cumulative human mind, depicted as the universal mind. Under the influence of Kali-nature (Kali-Prakriti), mankind’s outlook remains mostly extrovert, corruption reigns supreme and we are mostly superficial when it comes to anything having a deeper connotation. This leads to various sectarian bias and prevalence of so many strifes and bloodshed among faith-fanatics, ism-fanatics, political factions so on and so forth as discussions and engagements turn to arguments and hatred on frivolous grounds. On the other hand, the Satya-nature is introspective, uncorrupt and simplicity reigns supreme. With the mind fixated on the Truth, mankind is driven by the spirit of universal brotherhood and tries to respect every point of view by extracting the essence of Truth in every faith/philosophy leading to collaboration, order and harmony. This in turn helps sooth the global nature and restore harmony and equilibrium in the environment.
Beginning with Satya Yuga, the cycle completes in Kali Yuga and observing symptomatic characteristics it may safely be said that the current Kali Yuga has reached its point of saturation; it is now on the wane and the footsteps of Satya are being audible gradually. A section of the human society, particularly the young and the tender, is showing signs of clear vision ignoring the lure of sectarian bias and call of all religious superstitions despite enormous pressure from religious and political fanaticism. Slowly but steadily they are preparing themselves to respond to the call of the Absolute Truth, notwithstanding heterogeneous forces at work around them. Against this backdrop, if we look around us, we would but see that the human race is face to face with a conflict of two opposite forces in physical, mental and spiritual strata. The way out of this strangulating noose lies in the Awakening of Humanity lying dormant into the depth of man’s own consciousness. It requires Truth to prevail in every sphere of life to awaken man’s Humanity; and to prevail in this way, the universal mind requires to be turned introspective.
Gita of the Human Body – the Struggle Within
The transition from Mana_Rajya to Atma_Rajya is a war that every individual must undergo – this is the purpose of human existence. By waging the grand war in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna has metaphorically taught us the principles for establishing the kingdom of individual Self within the human body itself – the Sadhan samar. All the Dramatis personae are there within the body.
Kauravas – the forces of materialism and worldliness
Dhritarashtra, for instance, is the grand chieftain of the Kauravas. He is blind but a usurper. Similarly, the mind is blind itself, it experiences the external world through the senses, forms perceptions through the other faculties and attributes, but dictates as a king through will force. As Dhritarashtra ruled his kingdom with the help of Gandhari and their hundred sons, mind also rules the human body with the help of desire, his inspiring energy, six impulses and innumerable attributes to attachment (Sata Vritti). In spite of her vision Gandhari remains blindfolded. Like Gandhari sensual desire acts blind although it has the knowledge that such intoxicated pursuit may not be Right. As Dhritarashtra personifies the mind, Gandhari is the personification of material attachment (Pravritti) and her hundred sons symbolize innumerable mental impulses. Duryodhana is erotic desire (Kama) and Dushasana is anger (Krodha). Shakuni, the schemer is illusion (Moha) and when he acts in aid of sensual desires, he ensures destruction of desire in the long run.
Dronacharya is intelligence enshrouded by tradition and superstition (Sanskarak Buddhi). Bhisma is the symbol of individual ego (Asmita, i.e. the ego-sense of me and mine without the realization of “I”). Until the ego surrenders before the lotus feet of the Guru, the establishment of the Righteous Kingdom of Self remains a far cry.
Pandavas – the powers of Humanity and enlightenment
The Kauravas constitute the extrovert and demonic forces within the body. Now let us have a look at the Pandavas who are the benign forces within and always struggle to establish the kingdom of Self within the body. Pandu stands for guile-free intelligence (like the pure innocent intelligence of a child that gradually tarnishes as one age). His wife Kunti stands for restraint (Nivritti) that restricts our sub-human thoughts and actions and always comes in aid of being wise. As the story of Mahabharata unfolds, Pandu dies at an early age – so does our innocence at the onset of adolescence. The five Pandava brothers are the five elements that constitute our body (Panch-Bhoot). Sahadeva (literally Sahan + Deva i.e. the deva who withstands all pain), the youngest, is the element of earth that is responsible for the harder scaffold of the body containing bone, flesh, skin, veins, arteries and hair. This hard form is simply the cage for the vital force within and protects it by absorbing any external shock itself. Sahadeva stands for simplicity (Saralta), one of the basic and primary characteristic of Humanity.
The next elder Nakula (literally Na + Kula, denoting an endless span of water), is the element of water in the body denoting all fluid in it. Mixed with harder things water makes them softened and he stands for humility (Namrata) in nature, another key tenet of Humanity’s character. The third Pandava, Arjuna, is the element of fire. It generates energy and energy generates magnanimity (Sahishnuta) in character. Magnanimity begets tolerance. The next elder Bhima is the element of air. Air provides vital breath in the body. He had immense strength like vital breath which gets stronger being regulated when associated with devotion, which is the true essence of Pranayam. Bhima broke the thigh of Duryodhana, the symbol of erotic desire as the thigh is the seat of eros. And Bhima stands for liberality (Udarta), which becomes expressive when the erotic desire is contained. The first Pandava, Yudhisthira, is the element of ether (Akasha or Byom ), denoting the empty spaces in the body. The limitless void is the inspiration for fulfillment. It craves to be filled in, but that never happens; it ever expands. Holding the universe within itself it remains the same. It is called the grand upholder of faith. This element is responsible for expansion or universality (Prasharta) in human character. Thus, simplicity (Saralta), humility (Namrata), magnanimity & tolerance (Sahishnuta), liberality (Udarta) and expansion or universality (Prasharta) are symbolized in five Pandava brothers and these five qualities constitute the character of Manhood or Humanity (Manushyata i.e. Being Human). Overwhelmed by desires and attachments when the mind rules over the human affairs, the five Pandavas, symbolical of five essential qualities of humanity, are compelled to go to exile; and while in exile being guided by Krishna, the Supreme Consciousness, their attempt to redeem the Kingdom of Self by waging a devastating war is an apt example of proper form of atonement. Those who perished in the battlefield actually belonged to the mental plane (Mana-Rajya) and were incapable of establishing the Kingdom of Self (Atma-Rajya).
As explained by Sri Madhab, the message from Krishna in Gita – “Swadharme nidhanam shreyah, paradharmo bhayabaho” denotes – it is better to die trying to attain human character rather than losing one’s Humanity (which is the true religion of mankind).
Krishna – the Guru
Krishna is the Supreme Consciousness encased in the core of heart, known as the Kutastha Chaitanya. The term Krishna symbolizes a combination of three identifying characteristics, as shown below and hence He is the Supreme Consciousness.
Krishna = Akarshan + Karshan + Vikarshan
Akarshan = the Divine power to attract anyone without the external sensual gratifications of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. In fact, the entire creation exists due to this force of attraction, as a magnet holds the piece of iron from falling down. Without the power of Krishna, the creation would be annihilated.
Karshan = to nurture & cultivate the latent Seed of the Divine sown within, which leads to transformation in character;
Vikarshan = produce the fruit of the harvest in Karshan i.e. Illuminate, awaken humanity in the person who went through Aakarshan and Karshan by the Guru
Krishna is Omnipresent – the Avatari (Incarnation) at the end of Dwapara Yuga was the manifestation of this Krishna-Power in human form. But this Power is Eternal and Omnipresent. If this power becomes fully manifest in any human form, He is the Guru.
After His Incarnation a few thousand years ago the contemporary sages and wise men (Rishis) identified Him as such considering the manifestation of His Divine qualities (Sada-Aishwarya) e.g. grace, prowess, sublimity, fame, wisdom and renunciation. So Lord Krishna had all the divine accomplishments to proclaim Himself as the Guru and He demonstrated the Role of The Guru [and Arjuna the Role of a Shishya or disciple], although He didn’t manifest His Leela as a Guru-leela. Krishna demonstrated in Gita how the Divine Consciousness in the form of Guru inspires the Tej-Shakti or the Fire element (Arjuna), subdued & exiled by the extrovert mind under the overwhelming influence of sensual desire along with its associate impulses and attachments, to be infused with the divine prerogative to redeem the Kingdom of the Self and restore the character of Humanity within. Arjuna means o + rajju + na , i.e. One who is tightly bound by the rope of attachment, is the universal representation of a disciple, in search of Truth. Like the dilemma of Arjuna, demonstrated in the initial chapters of Gita, we too consider these extrovert constituents of the body as our most beloved relatives and never dream of reclaiming the Kingdom of Self (which is our Divine Prerogative) by cutting through the excesses of the sensual desires and attachments. Here, the role of the Guru is to slowly but steadily remove the Illusion / ignorance of the disciple and inspire him/her to wake up [by inspiring the fire element] from the deep slumber and raise up arms against the extrovert tendencies of the mind by walking the path of order and harmony, as instructed by the Guru. Even after going through the 18 chapters of the Gita, when Arjuna or the disciple is still in two minds to walk the difficult path of fight against the impulses, the Guru needs to overwhelm the disciple using His Divine Power [Guru-Shakti], as demonstrated by Krishna in His Vishwaroop-Darshan to Arjun. After the victory in this war [the embodiment of the Struggle Within], Arjuna came to be known as Partha [i.e. one who has overcome the Parthiva or worldly attachments]. This internal war, known as the Sadhan–Samar, exemplified in each Faith by the various Incarnations of the Divine and Enlightened Souls as Dharm-Yudh or Inner Crusade or Jihad-e-Akbar is the prerequisite to return to the Kingdom of Self. This is the Act of the Guru to inspire the disciple to walk this path and guide him/her through it till the end.
Divine accomplishments may find expression in any human form and when they do, that human form may lead individuals from ignorance to enlightenment. Actually it’s not the person’s body or the form (Deha-Rupa) itself, but the Consciousness within, which is instrumental in leading one to Wisdom. The Supreme Consciousness alone is capable of doing so to the fullest extent and man’s duty is to follow His dictates unhesitatingly in order to liberate himself from the fetters of ignorance (Maya).
As explained by Sri Madhab – GuruShakti is One, the Truth Absolute Himself, and that Power manifests in different degrees in different human Souls, primarily in 3 modes –
- Angsha Sampanna as in Partially Awakened / Advanced Saints, yet to be fully Enlightened. (Kula gurus in Ancient India)
- Shakti Sampanna or Enlightened Power as in Enlightened Souls [Siddha Purush]
- Swayang Sampanna or Self-governing Absolute i.e. Incarnations of God Himself
Using the analogy of a doctor and patient, – there are 3 categories of the doctor –
- The first one just prescribes a medicine to the patient and leaves it there.
- The second one not only prescribes the medicine but also asks later whether the patient consumed it and the effects thereafter.
- The third one doesn’t just prescribe and later enquire, but leaving nothing to chance, actually feeds the medicine to the patient and actively monitor his/her health till remedy.
The Swayang Sampanna Guru is analogous to the third category of a doctor where the patient is the world at large.
Apart from these, the current era also has others who pose as a Guru, without having the Divine Consciousness awakened in them. The latter ones are going to be unmasked in no time.