Narada, a Guru Ideal Somehow

• The Alien Guru-giver
• Vishnu cut off the head of his own mother

The Alien Guru-giver

Introduction on Loving Madly

Intoxicated!

Narada plays a prominent role in many Puranic texts. According to legend Narada roams around and causes quarrels among gods, goddesses, and humans. He is also known by some as one of the great devotees of Vishnu, and has a special place in Vaishnava traditions.

The guru Narada is typically linked to devotionalism among devotionalist yogis. A book on bhakti (devotion), is attributed to him [Vs]. In it, it is claimed:

[Bhakti] is deathless or as sweet as nectar . . . One who attains it becomes intoxicated . . . Giving away the social and Vedic customs including religious activities is termed as a form of this renunciation [Sutras 3, 6, 8, passim].

All those who want to get out of the chain of births and rebirths should only practice "devotion". This path of "devotion" is the easiest . . . to attain God . . . and does not need any other proof [Sutras 33, 58, 59, excerpts].

Devotees (with tear filled eyes and hair standing out) make sacred waters more sacred, and holy scriptures more holy. For they are filled with God. [Sutras 69, 70, excerpts]

Claims from the Narada Bhakti Sutras in P. R. Ramachander's translation [Nbs] thus include: "Love for God Vishnu makes you deathless, immortal. Bhakti intoxicates to the point of making you fall from Vedic customs. And it is the easiest path to God, and needs no proof." There is a claim on holiness too. From this it should be easy to see that stubborn claims go along with a dogmatism that does not want to be frankly investigated by sensible people who demand good evidence.

In the Bhagavad Gita it is held that there are several ways that are best also. And what do we see far and wide? People who get drunk on love, drop away from life one by one. Are they deathless? A good way to God does not have to bar proper inspection. To the contrary.

Also, on a more common level of loving, we see that people stop loving each other, or fall from loving each other much, and so on. One problem is that people cannot control feelings, and love as dictated. So can you cultivate love unaided? And wanting to love is not to love either. It is not that easy. So when an Americanised guru says "Love God, for I say it, but without having sex" does he specify necessities and tell you how, when, where, why and when, for example? Or is it loose drivel that others than yourself profit by? The last question is probably the most important of them all. Check what happens to devotees over time, and find out where their former resources went, for example, and whether it is well spent.

Largely unknown to most, devotional forms of yoga may pose severe problems, says Ramakrishna. Devotional practices are told of in the Ramakrishna biography. Some of the classifications: Three kinds, two stages, and the "how-to" is to regard God as one's Parent, Master, Friend, Child, Husband, or Sweetheart. Finally the devotee considers himself as the mistress of the Supreme Being [Rap, Introduction, "Vaishnava Disciplines"]

I don't say devotion is bad and goes wrong in every seemingly crazy case. But to remain on the safe side, cater to your balances, watch out, and do not succumb to duping tricks that perhaps play on unfulfilled or starved emotions. Do not be made an underling for it either. It should be good to know that the best tricks are those you are hardly ever made aware of, and that clever haters make you love them.

Gurus

As for gurus, they may or may not be true gurus. In the great Hindu heritage we find suggested that nine out of ten gurus are counterfeits. They may or may not be fair, may or may not work for your good but are they good enough?

Among gurus are also very bad gurus, wicked, deceiving, plotting guys. In the Indian heritage you find stories that illustrate how such gurus may deceive and work havoc in cold blood, also due to partiality. That outlook goes against idealised concepts and cherished ideas among such as North Americans today. Some who get initiated by counterfeit gurus may be in danger of losing integrity, self-respect and get battered without sensing it at first.

Below is a retelling of a long story from the Siva Purana in English translation, a Unesco work [Si]. The story is about the devotionalists' cherished guru prototype Narada. And what is the lesson that the tale brings?

❖ Where they hail Narada, why not ask for good evidence instead of freaking?

A Story of Plots

The guru prototype Narada was established to lead astray women and men and get rid of those straight, fair guys - behind a grin of dirty, devotional fervour and rigmarole.

Narada wilfully harmed innocent persons and brought on their ruin.

Once some non-Indians said, "Lord, we have nowhere to stay. Give us three wondrous cities crowned with jewels."

God did so. The nicely decorated cities were even joined together. There were many castles and pretty horses, elephants and playgrounds, and finally halls for kingly studies. Heroic non-Indians lived there together, people who had bull-like shoulders and broad chests. Some were of warlike temperament, others were calm. They were very well protected. A long time went by, and the inhabitants lived happily, ruling over the good kingdom they had got control over. But then main Hindu gods started to envy the happy inhabitants of the three cities. They visited the Creator-God Brahma in sheer distress and sought a cunning way to kill the happy ones. He laughed and said:

"Do not be afraid. Shiva (or manhood) will kill them. Polite folks have flourished due to my favour. They do not deserve to be wiped out at my hands." (p 802-9)

At this the Hindu gods crawled to Shiva and tried to endear themselves.

"Hail, destroyer of mankind, you who can be reached through good conduct and who are the paramount liberation from our good conduct too, eventually (p 810-13)

Shiva objected to the slandering Hindu gods when they proposed a plan to kill the inhabitants of the three cities. He did it in this way:

"A meritorious guy is the presiding ruler of the three cities now. He who quite often does meritorious deeds should not be killed by any sensible persons. How can I knowingly commit malicious deeds to my friends? There is a great sin attending on even casual malicious actions. There is no expiation for ungrateful ones. Those buddies of mine should not be slain by me as long as their goings are straight and fair enough. (Make an end to that first. Then the rest is easy.)" (p 815-6)

The Indian gods became miserable and dejected once again. They crawled on to god Vishnu, who saw through their minds and said,

"Listen to what I have to say. I, who once laid down the rules of great kingly conduct, have to admit: The virtuous guys cannot be destroyed by our magic now. What I must do is to thwart their uprightness; and then I can kill them by devious magic. Next I shall destroy the three cities." (p 816-9)

Now he sent the other gods away, each to his dwelling, and they left with bent heads. At once god Vishnu created a duplicate of himself and called him Arihat. He said to that robotlike monster, "I shall create a deceptive holy text. Strain yourself to extend it. Even magic arts shall be at your command." (p 820-1)

On hearing this, the robot king Arihat, which looked exactly like Vishnu, recited the main tenets in the deceptive philosophy god Vishnu had thought up for that case, after Shiva had furnished the golden clues on how to go forwards in the crooked way of deceit to outsmart brave and good ones and benefit Hindu gods.

The straight and fair city-inhabitants could be deformed and routed out without limit when they first were fooled away from being upright and decent. That was Shiva's masked meaning, and Vishnu meant to carry it out in earnest, to make a must of cheating and killing on top of envy - even if no inhabitant had ever given offence.

Hare Vishnu: "Initiate them. Go there and destroy these men and women. Your cult shall certainly expand. (p 821-2)

The robot king massed gruesome, false teaching to become worthy of guru-giver respect. He did it in a thrice:

"Hell itself is functioning right here," he uttered. Then the deceptive sage, followed by disciples in the Indian way, entered the three cities and created illusion. He tried as best he could to fascinate, and failed. (p 821-3)

His illusiory tricks and schemes did not work among the staunch city-inhabitants. It was then that Shiva transmitted guru-telepathically to Vishnu to summon the false and ruthless Narada. Narada is often held to be a prototype of a devotionalist guru.

Narada was ordered to go to the three cities and delude the residents there. Narada was an expert in godly, strong magic, and quickly met with the Arihat teacher who stood there and spoke in a non-discreet way. What Narada did, was to get himself initiated, sure that he could float on his reputation among non-initiates. Next he told the king of the three cities,

"This sage who initiated me, surely masters all kingly knowledge. I suggest you go and get yourself initiated."

By this the governor was deluded enough to exclaim and hail,

"Since Narada has been initiated wee too shall be initiated."

The governing guy was deluded by Arihat too, and begged him to initiate him, saying, "I shall become a disciple." (p 823-4)

As could be predicted, perhaps, the heretic sage, the counterpart of Vishnu, professed to be eternal, and spoke with emphasis, "If you are ready to do just as I decree, I shall initiate you. Otherwise not."

The king said, thankfully, "I shall carry out whatever you command, and I shall not transgress."

Now the guru had him, as an expert in Hindu magic. The guru said - and this is a quite protruding sermon: (p 825)]

"Our bodies perish. God the creator has a body that perishes too. Non-violence is the greatest virtue. (p 826-7)

Protection shall be given to the frightened, medicine to the sick, learning to the student, and food to the hungry. (p 827-8)

Older Aryan texts that encourage slaughter of animals, are due to erroneous notions - Bliss shall be taken as it is. (p 828)

Be prepared to give away even the body - Old men say that creation began with the Creator God Brahma. But modern people on the other hand ... Also, to divide up folks in castes and outcasts does not appear to be sound. No difference between man and man should be entertained." (p. 829)

Finally evil reigned on top. "Blessing" them with extreme delusion of intellect, perpetrated by the illusion of Vishnu, Narada became contented. Narada and the heretic sage (Vishnu's robot) were not defiled, though, because of lord Shiva. (p 830)
      As Shiva willed, the capacity of the king and his kin became stunted and thwarted. (p 831)

Now the Indian gods came creeping up and hailed the god that terminated goodness to let evil take the upper hand - by initiation, fervent guru bossing, leading astray. The former upright ones were led astray by the tops among Indians.

God the Creator hailed god Shiva here: "It is at your own bidding they have been deluded. You induced them." (p 834)

Hearing these words, the Indian gods were delighted. But they soon lost heart again - terrified at the thought of the dangers of battle. Spineless gods gave up and fled in great confusion. Unnerved they fled. One crawled on his knees; it was Indra. Now Vishnu had the guts to say,

"Say this holy sound: "Om. Namah. (To Shiva). Subham. Subham. Kuru. Kuru. Sivaya Namah Om." (p 836)

If you repeat it extremely much, Shiva will do what you beg, if you are meticulous about it. And Shiva popped up and said,

"The long mantra you mutter is highly meritorious and auspicious. It generates godly pleasure. It yields cherished desires and brings about happiness and so on." (p. 839)

This was warfare by muttering and mental incantations. Now god Shiva got a godlike wagon to ride in. Vishnu had to assume the form of a kingly bull under it. He had to kneel down and crawl on the ground. God Shiva steadied the horses, and now he could ride towards the three cities at last. Before he could attack full well, he ordered the Hindu gods to become animals. All the gods became animals. Now god Shiva was the lord of animals moving about in the sky.

Shiva shot one arrow, and burnt the three cities with that one shot. A great many who lived there were burnt to death. (p 843-50)

Related Mentions

To believe in tales seems infirm to some

The devotionally minded Yogananda talks warmly of Narada and for devotion too. But you should see that many are led astray by misplaced devotion, and take care. The seemingly friendly helper, is it a plotting, undermining expert of a kind, and is it found out only at the end of the day?

Among the SRF (Self-Realization Fellowship) gurus, Krishna is venerated - he is understood to be one of the incarnations of the deceptive, fraudulent God Vishnu - And Krishna says he is Narada, presented as an undermining, deft guru criminal in the story above, which is part of classical Hindu literature.

The story tells that Hindu devas (gods, even) are not always nice and fair, may dupe, use trickery and magic, and wreak havoc and destruction in the long run, like animals (the ending).

Tantric view of Goddesses

I have no reason to imagine that all gods and goddesses are murderous satans. But it is part of Tantric lore that some such beings are dangerous. In The Ten Great Cosmic Powers (Dasa Mahavidiyas) by S. Shankaranarayanan, this nuanced view is elaborated on. The author says, "There is a regular hierarchy of Gods, and some gods and Goddesses are closer to the human level than the higher Gods, and more readily accessible. They have capacities and powers beyond normal human possibility, and there are higher and lower classes of them. Some respond readily to the approaches of those who seek their help, but they do so mainly for their own purose, using the human to that end. "They may . . . answer the call of the seeker in the beginning but in the end they let him down . . . once their purpose is fulfilled. The seeker is misled, his inner progress comes to a standstill if it does not end in disaster." Such beings "mislead the seeker with petty glamorous gifts, induce a false sense of progress and siddhi, prevent the dawn of real Jnana which would expose their whole game and succeed in enslaving the man for their purpose". His soul is thus betrayed into misadventure, writes the author [Cot 2-3].

Shankaranarayanan also tells there are also higher, benevolent deities, and "make an effort to ascend to them", for "they do him the utmost good." Above or within these again, are still higher deities with cosmic functionings, and such deities are known as mahavidyas (literally: "great understandings", also "great paths"). "Nothing short of Self-Realization, atma saksatkara, is the goal of these Vidyas," he maintains [Cot 3].

The Panthenon of Hindu Gods Has Changed Much

Gods that once were popular in India, are not so today, and vice versa. Some (concepts of) gods and goddesses have mingled and fused, also. In some cases it is well to know the origin and contexts of concepts.

Moreover, "the earliest [Vedic] texts have the Asuras presiding over moral and social phenomena (e.g. Varuna, the guardian of Rita, or Bhaga, the patron of marriages) and the Devas presiding over natural phenomena." But a negative understanding of asuras developed in Hinduism over time, so that "In later writings, such as the Puranas . . . we find that the "Devas" are the Godly beings and the "Asuras" the demonic ones."

"Neither the RigVeda's Asuras nor the Gathas' Daevas are demons." Basic, Vedic gods are cognate with the Indo-aryan ahuras, (Sanskrit: asuras). Many Rikvedic gods of Hindus are in fact asuras. "The venerated Varuna, Mithra, Indra, Rudra, Agni, Aryaman, Pusan and Parjanya are all Asuras without being demonic . . . the RigVeda's Asuras are all exalted Gods." [Wikipedia, sv. "Asura"] [Link]

"Vedic lore contains numerous elements which are common to Indo-European mythological traditions, like the mythologies of Persia, Greece, and Rome, and that of the Celtic, Germanic and Slavic peoples. The Vedic god Indra in part corresponds to . . . Zeus and Jupiter," says Wikipedia [sv. "Vedic mythology"]. See also the "List of Hindu deities" there for a broader overview.

Prahlada, son of a demon king

As for massive guru help, if it helps your family, your garden things and so on, "fie" is seldom the proper response. Now:

1. There can be good and vicious elements inside a family. Guru-devas too belong to various groups, and are endowed with individual traits and properties.
2. There can be bad, passable, and very good trait within one and the same individual.

There were conflicting parties in antiquity, they upbraided and branded each other's side and cherished beliefs. Some elements hardened later, for example into the caste system of India. Still, allow for exceptions to the "rule". See for example the Puranic tale(s) about Prahlada, son of a "demon" king.

Prahlada is famed for exclusive devotion (bhakti) to Vishnu, despite the attempts of his father Hiranyakashipu to turn him from it - first by warnings. They were soon followed up by attempts to poison him; to get him trampled by elephants; and to get him bitten by venomous snakes. It did not help. Prahlada was then ordered to sit on a pyre, but he remained as difficult to get rid of as ever. And in the end Vishnu appeared in the form of half a lion and half a man and killed his father. Then Prahlada was made the new king of those demons.

The stories are to sustain the faith that Vishnu always save his devotees and that people who do evil, will be punished in time.

Prahlada refused to give up goodness. He had to suffer for it; he was regularly and harshly ill-treated by his father for such deviant outlooks and behaviour, which ran contrary to his father's transgression business. In the end Prahlada inherited the throne, and most often it does not end that way. [Clh: See index]

Abraham Lincoln once made a remark about his heredity. Let President Lincoln add a liberating note to the Prahlada tale:

Speaking of his ancestry Lincoln once humorously remarked,

"I do not know who my grandfather was - I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be." [Of]

Fair teaching, fair study on top of that

Abraham Lincoln:

"They say I tell a great many stories; I reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long experience that common people, take them as they run, are more easily informed through the medium of a broad illustration than in any other way, and as to what the hypercritical few may think, I do not care." [Of]

Good stories build a computing bank inside our heads. Various tales serve as platforms for shared cultural exchanges most often, and lots of lessons are derived from them. Classical fables attributed to Aesop, is our European standard example of how figurative elements bring fair handling norms in some cases.

Vishnu cut off the head of his own mother

"Gods are shameless, especially Indra and Vishnu. Formerly, both of them had acted in violation of the Vedic path.

Vishnu is deceptive, defective and indiscreet, capable of deception with sinful intention. Kaitabha was beheaded by his roguishness. Vishnu forsook the Vedic path. He violated sanctity of vows and assumed the form of an enchantress.

Taking birth as Rama, he killed a woman. Bali's death was brought about by him with a vile trick. A Brahmin descendant was killed by him.

Sinful as he was, he forsook his own innocent wife for achieving his selfish ends and cut off the head of his own mother. Further, he insulted his own teacher's son.

Incarnating as Krishna he defiled the wives of others and forced them to violate the virtues of family. He contracted his marriages outside the established Vedic path.

Later he preached the atheistic philosophy called Buddhism (as Buddha) [Buddhism has it differently].

Indra, his elder brother, is a greater sinner [Indra is called king of gods]. On this most Hindus have to agree." (p 750-51]. (#3.4)

Comments

It is faulty to get stiffened in one's views about gods and goddesses without any all rightevidence. That is one thing we should take to heart after studying the Hindu and Persian lore about devas and asuras and the demonisation of each of these groups as the related Indo-aryan cultures diversified over time.

Today as in older times there exist divergent lines of rigid discipline and thinking. Within such divergent lines of thinking we find the devotionalist craze. it speaks of a mentality, but bhakti (devotion) is not really necessary for yoga, and never was said to be in the old works either.

Be on your guard; if not you might succumb to delicate distortions and subterfuges. Moreover, in old times, Vedic times, it was the custom that guru and possible disciple took a long look at one another before they engaged in a guru-disciple relationship. This trial period might take tens of years, even, and might not be easy. You can find many hints of how they fared in the Hindu classics presented on this site. [LINK]

In essential Buddhism, devotionalist obsession is not thought much of. As with Shankara, piousness is fit if it is directed self-ward. But devotion can serve to transgress the inward-turning by some murky "craze", alas.

Beware of your inclinations and hope your goodwill is not abused or misled.

Literature  

Ak: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Man's Eternal Quest. Los Angeles: SRF, 1975.

Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang (main ed.), Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie E. Harder: A Dictionary of American Proverbs. (Paperback) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Philosophical Library, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]

Clh: Dimmit, Cornelia and van Buitenen, J. A. B. trs: Classical Hindu Mythology. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1978.

Cot: Shankaranarayan, S. The Ten Great Cosmic Powers. 2nd ed. Pondicherri: Dipti, 1975.

Ebu: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006.

Nbs: Ramachander, P. R. tr. Narada Bhakti Sutras. Velacherry: Celextel Enterprises, 2002-2009. On-line.

Of: Fuller, Edmund: 2500 Anecdotes for All Occasions. New York: Wings, 1970.

Ha: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 12th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), 1981.

Pa: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), 1971.

Rap: Gupta, Mahendranath. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Tr. Swami Nikhilananda. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1942. On-line.

Si: Shastri, J. ed: Siva Purana, vol 1-4. Delhi: Banarsidass, 1969.

Say: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.

Vs: Swami Prabhavananda. Narada's Way of Divine Love: The Bhakti Sutras Paperback. Hollywood, Vedanta Press, 2000. On-line: Google Books.

Zah: Surti, B.: Thus Spake Zarathushtra. 2nd ed. Madras: Ramakrishna Math, 1981.



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