Lecture 10-12

Question 1

Cycle of the universe

Answer 1

1. Creation
2. Golden age - doing the right action, everyone preforming their dharma faithfully
3. Kaliage
4. Dissolution (pralaya)

Question 2

Markandeya himself

Answer 2

Sees the pandava brothers
Sage, renunciate - he’s achieved such incredible accomplishments that he is immune from the pralaya- very close to moksa

Immortal sage- only human being who is able to witness the circle first hand

Describes the kaliage as:
Population decrease
Deceit
Sexual immorality 
Non dharmic

Question 3

Destructive process

Answer 3

Drought
Fire
Clouds
Lightning
Rain 
Collapse 
Hurricane winds 
Calmness

Question 4

Markandeya story

Answer 4

After dissolution finds krsna
Krsna eats him and markandeya sees the entire world in perfection

After 100 years he is blown out of krsnas mouth

Krsna explains because markandeya is devoted

Question 5

Themes of markandeya

Answer 5

1. Vishnu as destroyer
   - destroys the universe by natural catastrophe
2. Vishnu as creator
   - destroys then recreates in his own body
3. Vishnu as containing the universe
   - the line between Vishnu the personified god who gets involved with human affairs and Vishnu in the sense of Brahman becomes blurred
   - Brahman at the ultimate level is identical with the entire universe
4. Vishnu as playful
   -sense of a child playful
   Ambiguous identity -something deceptive going on
5. Bhakti (devotion)
   - praises krsna
   - krsna indulges markandeya curiosity by explaining what happens

Question 6

The dwarf story

Answer 6

King Bali (demon) rules the 3 worlds 
Vishnu decided to intervene 
Shrinks himself down to a dwarf
Asks king Bali door his boon to be to give him the amount of land worth 3 strides 
Bali agrees
Vishnu becomes his real size 
Takes back the 3 worlds 
Defeats the demons 
Vishnu hands ownership of the world over to Indra

Question 7

Themes of the dwarf

Answer 7

1. Vishnu as supreme god
   - only person who can defeat Bali
   - Vishnu appoints the rulers of the three worlds then he is superior to the person he announces
2. Vishnu as maintainer
   - best known as maintainer
   - upholding the order of the world
   - demons is a sign of disorder
   - Vishnu returns control to the gods
3. Vishnu containing the universe
   - notion of expansion that is associated with creation
   - sense in which the universe is contained within it
   - of Vishnu can expand like this, there is no limit to his expansion he might just contain everything
4. Vishnu is playful
   - tricked Bali
   - deceitful

Question 8

Krsnas birth story

Answer 8

Devaki is his biological mother
Must keep children safe from king kamsa
Prophecy that the 8th child (krsna) will kill him

First 6 children were demons but even though they were demons they were renunciate
They receive a boo
Grandfather curses them and they will be killed by his father in the next life

Sleep delivers the embryos to devaki
Makes a feel with her that she will become a goddess

Moves balarama to the womb of rohini (a cow herd woman)

Vishnu puts krsna into yasoda
King kamsa kills sleep instead of krsna

Question 9

Themes of krsna’s birth story

Answer 9

1. Maintain dharma /world
   - rewind the degeneration that is occurring
   - eliminates dharma by eliminating king kamsa
   - Krsna or sleep eventually kills king kamsa
2. Playfulness
   - trickery
3. Krsna is a prince but disguised as a commoner
4. Disguised as a human being when he is a god
5. Disguised as the son of yasoda but when he is actually the son of devaki

Question 10

Story 58 after the birth of Krsna

Putana

Answer 10

Putana- devourer of children

Putana attempts to breast feed him but her breast milk has been poisoned

Krsna sucks the life out of her
Krsna is missing but found playing on her chest fearlessly
Cut the body of the demon into pieces and spread them and burned them

The body parts smell sweet because her sins have been purged by feeding Krsna and she goes to heaven

Just because her actions show a loving mother

Question 11

Themes in the putana and Krsna story

Answer 11

1. Krsna maintains dharma
   - if she is allowed to go along and kill children that will lead to the degeneration of the world
   - prevents her from killing more children in the future
2. Playfulness
   - supreme god in the form of a baby
   - a disguise
   - playing I the breasts of putana after her death
3. Bhakti (devotion)
   - putana sins are other and goes to heaven as the result of poisoning Krsna
   - her act resembles the act of the loving action from a mother

Question 12

Krsna’s mother looks into his mouth story

Answer 12

Krsna is a rebellious child
She looks into his mouth and sees the entire world
She bows down
In the end Krsna erases her memory of the whole event and the only consequence is yasoda has a deeper affection

Question 13

Themes of krsna’s mother looking into his mouth

Answer 13

1. Playfulness
   -naughty little boy by disguised himself as good in front of his mother
   -disguised identity
   Trickery
2. Vishnu as containing the universe
3. Bhakti (devotion)
   - yasoda loves Krsna no matter what
   - maternal affection
   - sees his true identity she stands in awe, falls to her knees and prospers

Question 14

Siva

Answer 14

God of destruction
Be an individual who encompasses things that are supposed to be contradictory
Erotic ascetic

Question 15

Rudra

Answer 15

Thought of as a proto of siva

Connection with animals and forest

Question 16

Prajapati

Answer 16

Siva received his creative attributes

Question 17

Indra

Answer 17

He doors the phallic and adulterous character that he embodies

Fertility

Question 18

Aghl (god of fire)

Answer 18

Adopts his as drums and passion often seen as one in the same

Question 19

Divas destruction of daksa’s sacrifice

Answer 19

Lives in far mountains
Priest daksa performs a great sacrifice and siva isn’t invited
Horse sacrifice
Gets angry and burns everything

Brahma appears and asks siva to stop the destruction, and promises that siva will get a part of the offerings
-siva agrees

Question 20

Siva second story

Answer 20

Brahma tells rudra to create the world
Siva plunges into the water
A Brahma daksa performs sacrifice that causes the creation of the world while siva is under water

Daksa is in both stories 
Siva emerged angry 
Ends up destroying the world 
Commands everyone to worship him 
Their boon is for siva to teach the vedas

Question 21

Themes for sivas story #1 and #2

Answer 21

1. Siva originated outside Vedic pantheon
   - lives far from everyone and that’s where indigenous people live
   - he is god of the indigenous
   - after he gets mad he destroys everything
   - elevated to highest rank
2. Siva as destroyer
   - siva destroys the sacrifice but the sacrifice is a metaphor for the world because the sacrifices serve to keep the world functioning properly
   - when he destroys the sacrifice he is destroying the world
   - as a destroyer = fundamental duty
   Dooms day fire appears in both stories - and will consume everything
3. Siva as supreme god
   - he is elevated above other god
   - even Brahma beds
4. Siva can be pacified
   - despite his anger he can be pleased by worship
   - does boons
   - can become protector

Question 22

Destruction of the triple city

Answer 22

Demons including taraka are defeated by the gods
His sounds perform deeds to accumulate power

Brahma grants wish
Asks for three cities (3 worlds)
After 1000 years cities will merge and Brahma can come down and kill hen with one single arrow

He agrees
These cities become corrupt

Only siva can beat the demons even thought he doesn’t want to be apart of it

Siva instead gives his weapons and half of his energy but they can’t beat the demons
Finally he agrees and he slays the demons

Question 23

Themes of the triple city

Answer 23

1. Siva as supreme god
   - greater and more powerful than the other gods
   - gods come to him specifically
2. Siva as destroyer of the world
   - three cities =entire universe
   - the who universe enters his limbs and he laughs
   - he is described as angry, the fire of anger that is hard to bare
3. Siva maintains the world
   - returns the world into a state of dharma
   - restores the power of the gods by killing the demons sons
4. Siva as protector
   - those who go to siva are aided
   - if properly worshipping him