Indra and Vrtra (fwd)

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

A message from Bhadraiah Mallampalli:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Dear Jaldhar,

Thanks for the story of Indra and Vrtra. I never get tired of reading
different versions of it. Every version gives new clues and hopes we can
solve it one day. The story of Indra and Vrtra is not necessarily a
cosmological event alone. The story also has a representation at personal
level, otherwise the scriptures wouldn't be revolving around this story in
every other verse, as the most important event in the life of Indra.

Indra and other gods were born from Saguna Brahman. Upto this, it is
straight forward. At this stage it is easy for the gods to go back to Saguna
Brahman. But I always believed that at some stage down the line in the
process of creation, there appear some logical interlocks that get formed
whereby any one who gets into them can't get out so easily. I guess Vrtra is
one such interlock because he encircles (vRt). Some of the gods such as
Tvashtr have dual roles (to help devas and asuras), which is causing the
locks to materialize. (BTW, Tvashtr was son of Brhaspati. Indra and
Brhaspati are very close to non-duality in their origin. Brhaspati later
denies soma portion to Indra due to the sin of killing vishwarupa and
Indra steals tvashtras portion etc, the story goes on). By listening and
understanding the story we can get out of the interlocks to achieve
non-duality, because the names of the characters in the story are functions
of our own mind and they open up from meditation on the story. I have a
conviction this story happens in our mind every fraction of a second.

Best Regards
Bhadraiah

>From  Sat Nov  2 07:39:44 2002
Message-Id: <SAT.2.NOV.2002.073944.0800.>
Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 07:39:44 -0800
Reply-To: braos at yahoo.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
From: KRISHNA RAO <braos at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Indra and Vrtra (fwd)
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0211012308180.10593-100000 at samadhi.braincells.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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I strongly feel that this is by far the best interpretation of the Indra/Vrtra discussion that talks on how to actually relate the philosophy to one's own existence and thoughts.
I have always wondered what is the practical bearing Advaita brings on a person's life. In other words, in the modern day of chaos and co-existence with a rapidly growing western influence how does one strike a balance? How do we actually put theory into practice?
Thanks for this information.
Krishna
 "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar at BRAINCELLS.COM> wrote:A message from Bhadraiah Mallampalli:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Dear Jaldhar,

Thanks for the story of Indra and Vrtra. I never get tired of reading
different versions of it. Every version gives new clues and hopes we can
solve it one day. The story of Indra and Vrtra is not necessarily a
cosmological event alone. The story also has a representation at personal
level, otherwise the scriptures wouldn't be revolving around this story in
every other verse, as the most important event in the life of Indra.

Indra and other gods were born from Saguna Brahman. Upto this, it is
straight forward. At this stage it is easy for the gods to go back to Saguna
Brahman. But I always believed that at some stage down the line in the
process of creation, there appear some logical interlocks that get formed
whereby any one who gets into them can't get out so easily. I guess Vrtra is
one such interlock because he encircles (vRt). Some of the gods such as
Tvashtr have dual roles (to help devas and asuras), which is causing the
locks to materialize. (BTW, Tvashtr was son of Brhaspati. Indra and
Brhaspati are very close to non-duality in their origin. Brhaspati later
denies soma portion to Indra due to the sin of killing vishwarupa and
Indra steals tvashtras portion etc, the story goes on). By listening and
understanding the story we can get out of the interlocks to achieve
non-duality, because the names of the characters in the story are functions
of our own mind and they open up from meditation on the story. I have a
conviction this story happens in our mind every fraction of a second.

Best Regards
Bhadraiah


---------------------------------
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<P>I strongly feel that this is by far the best interpretation of the Indra/Vrtra discussion that talks on how to actually relate the philosophy to one's own existence and thoughts.
<P>I have always wondered what is the practical bearing Advaita brings on a person's life. In other words, in the modern day of chaos and co-existence with a rapidly growing western influence how does one strike a balance? How do we actually put theory into practice?
<P>Thanks for this information.
<P>Krishna
<P> <B><I>"Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar at BRAINCELLS.COM></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">A message from Bhadraiah Mallampalli:<BR><BR>---------- Forwarded message ----------<BR>Dear Jaldhar,<BR><BR>Thanks for the story of Indra and Vrtra. I never get tired of reading<BR>different versions of it. Every version gives new clues and hopes we can<BR>solve it one day. The story of Indra and Vrtra is not necessarily a<BR>cosmological event alone. The story also has a representation at personal<BR>level, otherwise the scriptures wouldn't be revolving around this story in<BR>every other verse, as the most important event in the life of Indra.<BR><BR>Indra and other gods were born from Saguna Brahman. Upto this, it is<BR>straight forward. At this stage it is easy for the gods to go back to Saguna<BR>Brahman. But I always believed that at some stage down the line in the<BR>process of creation, there appear some logical interlocks that get formed<BR>whereby any one who gets into them can't get out so easily. I guess Vrtra is<BR>one such interlock because he encircles (vRt). Some of the gods such as<BR>Tvashtr have dual roles (to help devas and asuras), which is causing the<BR>locks to materialize. (BTW, Tvashtr was son of Brhaspati. Indra and<BR>Brhaspati are very close to non-duality in their origin. Brhaspati later<BR>denies soma portion to Indra due to the sin of killing vishwarupa and<BR>Indra steals tvashtras portion etc, the story goes on). By listening and<BR>understanding the story we can get out of the interlocks to achieve<BR>non-duality, because the names of the characters in the story are functions<BR>of our own mind and they open up from meditation on the story. I have a<BR>conviction this story happens in our mind every fraction of a second.<BR><BR>Best Regards<BR>Bhadraiah</BLOCKQUOTE><p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
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