bala mukundashtakam

[thebigthinkg]

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When a sperm and egg fuse, underlying consciousness gets expressed driving the evolution from zygote to embryo to fetus. In that process, cittam, aham, buddhi, manas develop in mother's womb. Sucking the toe indicates completion of growth of child in the womb. Such a child in the womb (nara) is the closest human form to that consciousness (nArAyaNa).

Hence balamukundashtakam says "child lying in the vAta patra sucking its toe, is the form of beginingless, endless consciousness into which everything is absorbed, the sarveswara"

Sage Markandeya got a boon from nara-nArayaNa to visually see Lord's mAyam. During his sandhya-vandanam, he got a vision of 'pralaya'. Separated from it is an island with banyan tree, in whose leaf, a child sucking its toe was lying. He saw all the Universe within the baby.

Womb is banyan leaf shaped (inverted triangle). vATa patra indicates womb here. Sucking the toe is the completion of growth in womb. vATa patra shAyi is fully grown child (nara) in the womb, closest to the consciousness (nArAyaNa). A visible form of nara-nArAyaNa's mAyam.

Background voice - Prof Lakshmi Thattacharya

 

[rckappu]

Bala Mukundhashtakam is inspired by the episode of Sage Markandeya's vision of the lord as an infant lying in the fold of a banyan-leaf, in the midst of the primordial ocean. The venerable sage gets sucked into the mouth of this infant and is surprised to find the entire world arrayed safely inside him, while the deluge seemed to have destroyed everything, on the outside.

"Pleased with Markandeya’s total dedication to him, Lord Vishnu appeared in his dual form of Nara-Narayana to bless him. Seeing those two manifestations of Vishnu before him, Markandeya fell at their feet and began to sing a hymn of praise to them. Then, happiest with his great devotion, the Lord told him to ask for a boon.
But what could a desire-less sage want? All his desires had been fulfilled with the vision of the Lord. At last Markandeya said, ‘I have a desire to experience your maya, by whose power all the worlds and everyone in them perceive duality in your non-dual being.’
The Lord granted his prayer, and smiled as he disappeared. For, while all others pray to be free from Maya, this sage was asking for an experience of Maya. Markandeya then remained at his ashrama, waiting for his prayer to be fulfilled.
One day a violent storm set in. Torrential rain poured from the sky with no respite. Day after day it went on and on. Gradually all the rivers, lakes, and oceans overflowed their banks until the whole world was covered with water. Markandeya alone remained floating in the water. Everything and everyone else had been submerged, and the whole world was dark. For eons, it seemed, he floundered in the waters of the deluge, exhausted and with no food, overcome with grief and delusion.
At last, after thousands of years, Markandeya spotted a bit of land raised above the ocean. There, on that island was a banyan tree. Coming closer, the sage spotted an infant lying on a leaf in the middle of the tree. All Markandeya’s exhaustion and grief disappeared at the sight of this beautiful baby, dark green in complexion, who was lying there sucking his toes.
With some hesitation, Markandeya approached the infant to speak with him. But as soon as he got close, he was drawn into the mouth of the baby. Even stranger, Markandeya saw the whole universe, just as it had been before the deluge, inside the stomach of that baby. Everything was the same.
Just as he was wondering about all this, Markandeya was pulled out of the baby as the baby breathed out. Again Markandeya was back in the deluge, but the banyan tree with the baby was still there. Markandeya understood that this baby was Lord Vishnu, on whom he meditated. The baby smiled at him with a divine smile, and Markandeya again approached him to embrace him. But in an instant the baby disappeared—and so also did the banyan tree as well as the whole deluge. The next moment Markandeya found himself back in his ashrama, as if nothing had happened. The whole thing was the Lord’s Maya.
Sometime later Shiva and Uma came to the ashrama and found Markandeya in meditation. When Markandeya opened his eyes, he saw the divine couple before him, and prostrated himself at their feet, singing a hymn of praise. Knowing of Markandeya’s suffering at the time of his experience of the Lord’s Maya, Shiva praised his devotion to Lord Hari and told him to ask for a boon.
Markandeya replied, ‘May I have unfaltering devotion to Sri Hari, to thyself, and to all thy devotees.’ Shiva then said: ‘All that you have asked for is granted, and besides this your fame will last forever. Moreover, you shall live a life of total renunciation and illumination till the cosmic dissolution, with knowledge of the past, present, and future."- Shrimad Bhagavatam.

 

[thebigthinkg]

What you wrote is true, from Srimad Bhagavatam (SB), with my understanding here from the text.

Post this mAyA experience, mArkandeya tells Hari that he will take shelter in feet of Hari, which gives fearlessness to those who surrender. It's his mAyA that becomes the knowledge of the wise. (Thus saying he goes into meditation)

(As he is meditating) Rudra and Rudrani are on nandi in the sky/heavens. There Uma tells giriSa that markandeya is not carrying the desires of atma-indriya. To his bhagavan says yes not just worldly desires, but desire for mokSa also not with him, as he has achieved puruSa (just being a witness) like status with his bhakti. Speaking this, shankara approaches the sage. But markandeya who has achieved such a detached status does not notice this arrival near his physical body.

Like wind enters through a hole, giriSa enters that expanse that markandeya is witnessing in his heart. As the vision of Shiva with matted hair and dumru appears in that expanse, markandeya comes out of meditation and sees Rudra, Uma and the gunas in front of him.

Markandeya pays his obeisance and requests what he can do to Lord who is completely satisfied on his own. Lord Shiva requests markandeya to ask for a boon. He further says "You who do not differentiate between aja, acyuta, myself, who do not differentiate between yourself and other living beings, we approach you. Lifeless statues do not become worshippable, water bodies do not become holy places, as our external sight fails to understand their essence. It takes time to realize their holiness. But just sight of people like you makes one holy.

Markandeya who had become exhausted due to the wandering in realizing the mAyA, heard these words as amrt. He said "It's difficult for embodied souls to understand isvara lila. Like a magician's power is not reduced by the tricks, your lila does not reduce your power. Atma's wish created this entire Universe, into which it enters, works on the gunas appears as doer, like a dreaming person. I offer my salutations to you the Atman that holds all the gunas, the brahma-murty, guru (without a second, unparralleled).I ask for one boon, o fullfiller of desires, it is bhagavaty acyutāṁ bhaktiṁ tat-pareṣu tathā tvayi. That is bhakti to bhagavati, acyuta and beyond them yourself.

To this Lord Sharva says "till end of kalpa, you will have punya, freedom from old age and death to fullfill your desire for this bhakti. Let you have trikala jnanam, brahma vijnanam and detachment. Let you be a complete acharya".

**
The vision of markandeya on mAyA with pralayam, wandering and finding a child lying on banyan leaf sucking his toe is a metaphor. A child starts sucking toe when growth is complete in the womb. Lord Vishnu has many forms one of which is that of sage nara-nArAyaNa. nArAyaNa is the consciousness in the narA and in embodied form (nara) we are closest to this consciousness (narayana) when we suck the toe in mothers womb (vatapatra). We wander all over the places to realize the Lord, due to his mAyA, but finally find it within the child.

One who realizes it truly, treats all gods and living beings equal, who is detached witnessing as sAksi, that person will become a complete acharya. To him the Lord approaches. Bhakti is a way to this jnAnam.

 

[rckappu]

What you wrote is true, from Srimad Bhagavatam (SB), with my understanding here from the text.Post this mAyA experience, mArkandeya tells Hari that he will take shelter in feet of Hari, which gives fearlessness to those who surrender. It's his mAyA that becomes the knowledge of the wise. (Thus saying he goes into meditation)..................
One who realizes it truly, treats all gods and living beings equal, who is detached witnessing as sAksi, that person will become a complete acharya. To him the Lord approaches. Bhakti is a way to this jnAnam.

Absolutely. Bagavatham teaches duality as also non-duality, depending upon the taste of the reader.