[h=2]Introduction
Generally people interpret Mrtyunjaya Mantra as a Mantra that helps one to overcome death and interpret it as a 'prayer' to grant immortality. In my view, that is a wrong interpretation. Here is what I think.
Can anyone overcome death..? None can. No amount of Yajna, Homa, Japa, Mantra or tantra can overcome physical death.[/h]Mortality is the hall-mark of life. Nothing in this Universe has overcome mortality. Mortality is the basis of evolution, where new beings with better intelligence evolve with progress of time.
What can we overcome then..? We can overcome the fear of death. Death cannot be overcome, but fear of death can be overcome.
MahaMrtyunjaya Mantra explains how we can overcome the fear of death. Reciting it with full knowledge and meaning helps one to overcome the fear of death. Performing a Havan is better than reciting a Mantra and is more effective, but I won't discuss it now.
[h=2]Maha-Mrtyunjaya Mantra[/h]
Aum – Pranava, the Life-breath of Unvierse
Tryambhakam – The three forces that emanate from Amba
Yajamahe – Sacrificially grant
Sugandhim – Pure
Pushti – Nourishing
Vardhanam – Growth (Expansion)
Urvarukam – iva – Cucumber Like
Bandanan – dependent on
Mrityor – Death
Mokshiya - to liberate
Mamritat – Mortality.
“The three forces that emanate from Ambha sacrificially grant pure, nourishing growth like cucumber dependent on death to liberate from mortality”.
Three forces of Amba
From this it is clear that the three forces of Amba are Marici, Maram and Apa, which I map to forces of Physics (Marici - force fields), Chemistry (Mara - mortal matter) and Biology (Apa - biological compounds).
[h=2]Death - The provider of immortality[/h]We know death as a provider of mortality. By death we become mortal. But here the sloka says death liberates us from Mortality. How..?
The sloka says ‘Like Cucumber dependent on death to liberate from mortality’. There are several ways it can be explained.
One way is to explain that ‘Cucumber ripens and falls off by itself. Hence we wish to die by old age’. But this does not explain ‘how we can become immortal’ fully well. To understand it, we need to understand cucumber.
A cucumber grows or expands by spreading its seeds. Even when a cucumber is eaten, the seeds don’t get digested. They are excreted by animals and the seeds of cucumber give rise to a new plant. In this way cucumber is picked up and eaten by men, women, animals, birds and is spread to new and far off places. This is how a cucumber grows. It grows and expands by death.
For cucumber death of a fruit provides immortality by growing it new places. Mortality cannot be avoided. But immortality can be achieved by spreading ourselves like cucumber, giving rise to us in new places. The old cucumber plant will die sometime. But cucumber will not die. It has spread to new climes and new times. It continues to be mortally immortal.
We need to become like cucumber propagating our seeds well into future, arising ourselves again and again, becoming mortally immortal is the message of this sloka.
[h=2]How do we become like Cucumber..?[/h]Becoming like cucumber means we give rise to ourselves in new climes and times. We will live forever by giving rise to ourselves again and again. Only if we give rise to ourselves again and again, then we can become mortally immortal like cucumber.
The process of reproduction and spreading of human beings looks like a cucumber tree. People grow in a particular area and climate, marry, give birth to kids like a cucumber plant. Over a period some of the next generations move to a newer place, plant themselves there and grow a new branch there. This goes on and on and human beings have spread like cucumber.
Does that mean what is stated here is to just reproduce and spread..? NO. Not at all.
It is because our kids are not like us. They are different and on their own. Our kids inherit our physical traits to some extent. But they cannot become us. If we need to give rise to ourselves in new climes and times like cucumber it cannot be just through reproduction.
Actions (Karma) only belong to our life. We perform our actions by our material nature that we inherit, acquire and develop. We impact the happenings of Universe through our actions only.
[h=2]Bija Karma – Seeds of Cucumber[/h]Karma (Actions) is divided into three categories. They are Prarabdha Karma, Sanchita Karma and Bhija Karma. Prarabdha karma refers to the reactions of past activities that influence our present. Sanchita Karma are those that do not propogate. Bija Karma are current actions that will propagate into future.
The Bija Karma is like the seeds of cucumber which propagate into future and affect the future. Our actions are like the seeds that will travel into future and give rise to new actions. They will live longer than our lifetime.
Like the cucumber seeds, our seed of action, gives rise to more actions, which then give rise to more and more actions, thus living long after our death.
However long or short one lives, we need to leave the right Bija (seeds) karma (of action) so that our actions nourish and prosper the future. Hence by performing right actions that serve the society during our lifetime, that stand long after our death, that give rise to more positive actions by others, we live in the societies through our actions.
We need not be afraid of death. Death can remove our soul from the body. The Bija (seeds) Karma we left in the society cannot be eliminated by death. It thrives in the society and grows on newer set of people. It gives rise to more and new positive actions.
We become mortally immortal.
Maha-Mrtyunjaya Homa
In a Maha-mrtyunjaya homa, we make seven offerings to overcome the fear of seven types of deaths. That and how a homa benefits us in another blog..
-TBT
Generally people interpret Mrtyunjaya Mantra as a Mantra that helps one to overcome death and interpret it as a 'prayer' to grant immortality. In my view, that is a wrong interpretation. Here is what I think.
Can anyone overcome death..? None can. No amount of Yajna, Homa, Japa, Mantra or tantra can overcome physical death.[/h]Mortality is the hall-mark of life. Nothing in this Universe has overcome mortality. Mortality is the basis of evolution, where new beings with better intelligence evolve with progress of time.
What can we overcome then..? We can overcome the fear of death. Death cannot be overcome, but fear of death can be overcome.
MahaMrtyunjaya Mantra explains how we can overcome the fear of death. Reciting it with full knowledge and meaning helps one to overcome the fear of death. Performing a Havan is better than reciting a Mantra and is more effective, but I won't discuss it now.
[h=2]Maha-Mrtyunjaya Mantra[/h]
Aum
Tryambhakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mokshiya Maamritat
Tryambhakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mokshiya Maamritat
Aum – Pranava, the Life-breath of Unvierse
Tryambhakam – The three forces that emanate from Amba
Yajamahe – Sacrificially grant
Sugandhim – Pure
Pushti – Nourishing
Vardhanam – Growth (Expansion)
Urvarukam – iva – Cucumber Like
Bandanan – dependent on
Mrityor – Death
Mokshiya - to liberate
Mamritat – Mortality.
“The three forces that emanate from Ambha sacrificially grant pure, nourishing growth like cucumber dependent on death to liberate from mortality”.
Three forces of Amba
Sa ima lokan asrjata, ambha maricir maram apo’do
Ambhah parena divam dyauh pratistha antariksam
Maricayah, prithvi maro ya adhastat ta apah
In this way the worlds were born; Marici, Maram and Apa from Ambha. Ambha beyond (parena) the stellar systems (divam) stands/situated in dyu. Interstellar medium (Cosmic space, antariksa) is made of marici, prthvi made of maro and below all of that is Apa.Ambhah parena divam dyauh pratistha antariksam
Maricayah, prithvi maro ya adhastat ta apah
From this it is clear that the three forces of Amba are Marici, Maram and Apa, which I map to forces of Physics (Marici - force fields), Chemistry (Mara - mortal matter) and Biology (Apa - biological compounds).
[h=2]Death - The provider of immortality[/h]We know death as a provider of mortality. By death we become mortal. But here the sloka says death liberates us from Mortality. How..?
The sloka says ‘Like Cucumber dependent on death to liberate from mortality’. There are several ways it can be explained.
One way is to explain that ‘Cucumber ripens and falls off by itself. Hence we wish to die by old age’. But this does not explain ‘how we can become immortal’ fully well. To understand it, we need to understand cucumber.
A cucumber grows or expands by spreading its seeds. Even when a cucumber is eaten, the seeds don’t get digested. They are excreted by animals and the seeds of cucumber give rise to a new plant. In this way cucumber is picked up and eaten by men, women, animals, birds and is spread to new and far off places. This is how a cucumber grows. It grows and expands by death.
For cucumber death of a fruit provides immortality by growing it new places. Mortality cannot be avoided. But immortality can be achieved by spreading ourselves like cucumber, giving rise to us in new places. The old cucumber plant will die sometime. But cucumber will not die. It has spread to new climes and new times. It continues to be mortally immortal.
We need to become like cucumber propagating our seeds well into future, arising ourselves again and again, becoming mortally immortal is the message of this sloka.
[h=2]How do we become like Cucumber..?[/h]Becoming like cucumber means we give rise to ourselves in new climes and times. We will live forever by giving rise to ourselves again and again. Only if we give rise to ourselves again and again, then we can become mortally immortal like cucumber.
The process of reproduction and spreading of human beings looks like a cucumber tree. People grow in a particular area and climate, marry, give birth to kids like a cucumber plant. Over a period some of the next generations move to a newer place, plant themselves there and grow a new branch there. This goes on and on and human beings have spread like cucumber.
Does that mean what is stated here is to just reproduce and spread..? NO. Not at all.
It is because our kids are not like us. They are different and on their own. Our kids inherit our physical traits to some extent. But they cannot become us. If we need to give rise to ourselves in new climes and times like cucumber it cannot be just through reproduction.
Actions (Karma) only belong to our life. We perform our actions by our material nature that we inherit, acquire and develop. We impact the happenings of Universe through our actions only.
[h=2]Bija Karma – Seeds of Cucumber[/h]Karma (Actions) is divided into three categories. They are Prarabdha Karma, Sanchita Karma and Bhija Karma. Prarabdha karma refers to the reactions of past activities that influence our present. Sanchita Karma are those that do not propogate. Bija Karma are current actions that will propagate into future.
The Bija Karma is like the seeds of cucumber which propagate into future and affect the future. Our actions are like the seeds that will travel into future and give rise to new actions. They will live longer than our lifetime.
Like the cucumber seeds, our seed of action, gives rise to more actions, which then give rise to more and more actions, thus living long after our death.
However long or short one lives, we need to leave the right Bija (seeds) karma (of action) so that our actions nourish and prosper the future. Hence by performing right actions that serve the society during our lifetime, that stand long after our death, that give rise to more positive actions by others, we live in the societies through our actions.
We need not be afraid of death. Death can remove our soul from the body. The Bija (seeds) Karma we left in the society cannot be eliminated by death. It thrives in the society and grows on newer set of people. It gives rise to more and new positive actions.
We become mortally immortal.
Maha-Mrtyunjaya Homa
In a Maha-mrtyunjaya homa, we make seven offerings to overcome the fear of seven types of deaths. That and how a homa benefits us in another blog..
-TBT
