Daivee Sampath - Part 2

Ahimsa is a much praised but badly misunderstood daivee sampath. ‘Ahimsa paramo dharma ‘ implying that Ahimsa is the highest religion, has been the declaration or slogan of many leaders and traditions. Unfortunately, it has been taken to the extreme. Innocent masses and learned ones alike, have fallen prey to these delusional misleaders. The tragic consequence is that large groups of Sanatana followers have been totally disarmed. As a result horrible violence has been inflicted on them and crores of them have perished. Sanatana dharma has been wiped out from vast stretches of land. Clearly, we have failed to grasp the true meaning of the daivee quality Ahimsa.

Here in Bhagavadgita, Daivee sampath Ahimsa is being praised by Bhagavan Shrikrishna in the battlefield of Mahabharata for invoking Arjuna to give up his weakness, lift up his powerful Gandhiva, and to fight. Hence ahimsa clearly means something different from the non violence taught by our (mis) leaders. Every Devata in our traditions carries one or more weapons in his/ her hand. Right use of weapons and force is therefore a true daivee sampath. It is a true Dharma. Ahimsa does not mean giving up violence. It is certainly not non violence as generally ( mis) understood. Prati- himsa or counter violence to oppose violence on us in particular, and violence on dharma in general is a daivee quality and needs to be encouraged and cultivated.

Satyam. Yoga literature declares that for those who are established in Satya, the Truth, whatever they say indeed happens. Speakers of truth become the voice of reality. Speaking untruth causes severe damage within an individual. As such at any place, most of the people speak truth most of the times. Occasionally however they slip. The secret to mastering this daivee quality, satyam, lies in regularly reminding oneself about it to successfully avoid even those occasional mistakes.

Akrodha, like Ahimsa should not be taken literally and superficially. Righteous anger is necessary in order to stimulate right action at the right time. But in order to maintain internal tranquility, Krodha ought to be invoked only in exceptional circumstances and should be dropped completely once the action is done. Tyaga is the ability to give up. Possessiveness makes one stuck and can often be a serious obstacle for growth. Tyaga makes one light hearted.

Shanthi, peace, is a well known but elusive pursuit for all. It is a combined result of all thoughts and actions both at the individual level and also collectively. Yoga in a broad sense can help greatly in this pursuit.

Apaishunam is the ability to give up the habit of finding fault. ‘Parasparam bhavayantah shreya paramavaapsyata’ is the main theme of 33 Koti Devata. We elevate one another and attain the highest level of well being. Constantly finding fault in everything, in everyone, everywhere is a sure way to discourage each other and to go down individually and also collectively. Perhaps in the case of us sanatanis today, next to Abhayam, the most important daivee sampath which needs to be cultivated is apaishunam. Luckily just like Abhayam, this too costs nothing. We just need to drop something, that is all. Not only that we can see positive results almost instantly.

Daya Bhuteshu, is compassion towards all. It is an indication of unity in an emotional plane. Like shanti, this is also a combined result of all thoughts and actions. It has a positive feedback on unity. Aloluptvam is lack of greed or covetousness. It pairs up well with tyaga. Greed is a unique human weakness not found in any other form of life. Greed is related to fear and can be overcome through Abhaya.

Mardavam is gentleness. It transforms men in to gentlemen, a step forward toward devatas. Hri means modesty and humility. Those who are full and complete do not make unnecessary noise. They don’t need to brag. Absence of humility makes interactions very rough and can lead to escalations of disputes and pursuit of dissipative topics.

Achapalam is being unwavering in the right pursuit. Not getting blown away by distractions is achapalam. It is different from being stubborn which is sticking on even after realizing that one is wrong. Tejas is splendor, glow, virtue. It is a combined effect of all the daivee qualities. Each daivee quality is like an additional color in the bright glow of a devata.

Kshama is ability to forgive after the action even if it was very wrong. It is also forbearance towards wrongs which may happen during action. It shows a great deal of maturity. Not only that it is an indication of the underlying state of unity and enhances unity.

Dhriti is determination, ability to bear. It pairs with achapalam. It is a result of deep commitment to the task at hand.

Shaucham is cleanliness, inside and also outside. Nearly all physical and mental diseases can be traced to lack of cleanliness. Sickness of any kind is an obstruction to manifestation of daivee qualities.

Adroha is to not cheat, not to engage in treachery of any kind.

Natimanitha is not being excessively proud, not being haughty. This pairs well with the quality Hri. These are the 27 Daivee qualities. Like 27 Nakshatras in the physical cosmos, these 27 qualities or wealth star groups cover the entire inner cosmos of devatas.

Asuri qualities, Asuri sampath, which are better recognized as Asuri Vipath, are more or less the opposite of these daivee qualities. Absence of daivee qualities almost automatically enables asuri vipath to invade our lives.

While ignorance is the root cause of Asuri Vipath it leads to many things: haughtiness, arrogance, conceit, anger, rudeness, not knowing what is right and what is not right, uncleanness, undesirable behavior, lies, baselessness, insatiable desires, terrorism, delusions, chasing of delusional ideas, terrible worries, satisfaction of lust as the top most priority and extremely harmful acts and finally destruction of the world. Bound by millions of desires, following illegal routes to wealth, declaring proudly that today I killed this and tomorrow I will kill that, I am supreme, perfect, happiest, wealthiest, who is equal to me and so on, the Asuras get trapped in an infinite web of delusions. With no peace of mind, insulting all others, being reborn again and again in Asuri wombs and taking increasingly malicious cruel forms, they create hell for themselves and for all others.

Whereas daivee qualities bring in freedom and unity Asuri qualities cause disunity, destruction and bondage. We need to block and dismantle the Asuri Vipath generators both within and around us. Luckily for us, we are all, without exception, born with daivee sampath in full measure. We only need to remind ourselves regularly to awaken and activate these daivee qualities. For awakening the inside world, merely reciting our anthem of 33 Koti Devata, keeping its meaning in our mind is good enough for most of us. One may especially pay attention to the specific quality one is weak in and wishes to strengthen. For activating the most important quality Abhayam, recognizing the death bypassed reality in a knowledge based, objective, clear headed way as indicated in blogs 1 & 2 is the best option. That way even if we slip at times, we can easily get up and reclaim our status as Devatas and keep Asuri Vipath at bay in the inner world.

For tackling the Asuri Vipath generation in the outer world however, we need an organization like 33 Koti Devata which alone can pool all our resources and strengths together and effectively address the challenge.