What's the philosophy behind disturbing someone's penance ?
Namaste HDF
Our scriptures have captured how sages like vishwamitra or even Ogress while performing Tapasya were disturbed by Devatas like Agni Vaayu etc. I am NOT going to ask why as it's been recorded. Mostly Indra Devata was afraid of competition or something else.
What's the philosophy behind disturbing someone's penance ? What's our scriptures trying to convey with those narrations? Has anyone thought in this line?
[This happens in our modern life. Say for example a teenager who tries his best to stay away from unhealthy habits like smoking drinking etc are pulled into the ditch by their peers. As a teetotaller I can vouch for the peer pressures.]
Re: What's the philosophy behind disturbing someone's penance ?
Namaste Anirudh,
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Anirudh
Our scriptures have captured how sages like vishwamitra or even Ogress while performing Tapasya were disturbed by Devatas like Agni Vaayu etc. I am NOT going to ask why as it's been recorded. Mostly Indra Devata was afraid of competition or something else.
What's the philosophy behind disturbing someone's penance ? What's our scriptures trying to convey with those narrations? Has anyone thought in this line?
[This happens in our modern life. Say for example a teenager who tries his best to stay away from unhealthy habits like smoking drinking etc are pulled into the ditch by their peers. As a teetotaller I can vouch for the peer pressures.]
In my opinion, these PauraNic stories are for guiding people to the path of Dharma and the stories are allegorical in nature. Indra or the Controller of the Indriyas i.e. the mind lures people towards carnal pleasure and until he proves that he cannot be disturbed by such tantrums of mind, he is not fit for highest spiritual goal. Upanishads and Bhagwad Gita tell us that the highest spiritual cannot be attained by those who have not mastered their senses. Why so ? This is because mind is Self indulged in outgoing senses. Unless the mind turns inward and become calm, the craving for sensual pleasure is there and so the SamsAra is there.
In those stories, Indra is not any outside entity trying to disturb us. It is our own uncontrolled mind which tries to lead us stray and we have to come out victorious against all the tricks played by Indra.
However, this explanation is with Advaitic understanding. From Dvaita point of view other esteemed members would be able to throw light.
OM
Re: What's the philosophy behind disturbing someone's penance ?
Namaste Anirudhji,
Tapas results in development of strength and power. We can see that Ravana had acquired great strength because of his tapas and so too did other demons. The Lord is helpless before the tapasvin and has to grant boons to him whether he is of a noble or ignoble character.
This could be the reason why Vishwamitra and others have been disturbed by the devatas who feared that they would be too strong by penance to the point that they might challenge the sovereignty of the gods in heaven.
And we can see that once Vishwamitra had challenged Indra and the gods by attempting to send Trishanku in his physical body to heaven, which was unacceptable to Indra. He even created a parallel heaven and set Trishanku as king over it.
This could be the reason why the gods are not keen on letting saints succeed in their penance as they can become potential troublemakers later on.
Pranam.
