Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 813 views

    Madhu Kaitabha Symbolism

    Uploaded by

    JayachandranSn
    Vishnu's encounter with Madhu and Kaitabh symbolizes the human struggle with attachment/aversion and praise/criticism, which cloud our intellect. Madhu represents attachment to worldly pleasures, while Kaitabh signifies aversion to unpleasant things. Both are products of maya that must be destroyed. Though Vishnu fought them for years, we cannot overcome these demons through our own power. Only by surrendering to Mahamaya, the goddess who created maya, can we destroy attachment and aversion. This can only be done through vairagya, or disenchantment from worldly pleasures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Madhu Kaitabha Symbolism

    Uploaded by

    JayachandranSn
    813 views1 page
    Vishnu's encounter with Madhu and Kaitabh symbolizes the human struggle with attachment/aversion and praise/criticism, which cloud our intellect. Madhu represents attachment to worldly pleasures, while Kaitabh signifies aversion to unpleasant things. Both are products of maya that must be destroyed. Though Vishnu fought them for years, we cannot overcome these demons through our own power. Only by surrendering to Mahamaya, the goddess who created maya, can we destroy attachment and aversion. This can only be done through vairagya, or disenchantment from worldly pleasures.

    Original Description:

    The Symbolic Meaning of Vishnu’s Encounter with Madhu and Kaitabh

    Original Title

    Madhu Kaitabha symbolism

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Vishnu's encounter with Madhu and Kaitabh symbolizes the human struggle with attachment/aversion and praise/criticism, which cloud our intellect. Madhu represents attachment to worldly pleasures, while Kaitabh signifies aversion to unpleasant things. Both are products of maya that must be destroyed. Though Vishnu fought them for years, we cannot overcome these demons through our own power. Only by surrendering to Mahamaya, the goddess who created maya, can we destroy attachment and aversion. This can only be done through vairagya, or disenchantment from worldly pleasures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as txt, pdf, or txt
    813 views1 page

    Madhu Kaitabha Symbolism

    Uploaded by

    JayachandranSn
    Vishnu's encounter with Madhu and Kaitabh symbolizes the human struggle with attachment/aversion and praise/criticism, which cloud our intellect. Madhu represents attachment to worldly pleasures, while Kaitabh signifies aversion to unpleasant things. Both are products of maya that must be destroyed. Though Vishnu fought them for years, we cannot overcome these demons through our own power. Only by surrendering to Mahamaya, the goddess who created maya, can we destroy attachment and aversion. This can only be done through vairagya, or disenchantment from worldly pleasures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as txt, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    The Symbolic Meaning of Vishnu

    s Encounter with Madhu and Kaitabh

    Madhu actually means honey and he represents attachment (raag) to this world, wh
    ich seems sweet to us. Kaitabh means a pricking thorn and signifies our aversion
    (dvesha) to things we deem as unpleasant. Both of these traits, which do much t
    o make up our overall nature or temperament (prakriti or svabhav), is a residue
    carried over from numerous previous births. Both are products of maya and need t
    o be annihilated.
    In another interpretation, Madhu is honeyed praise, while Kaitabh is sour critic
    ism, both of which enter through our ears, but are two side of the same mayic co
    in and need to be discarded. In either of the interpretations, the two demons at
    tack our intelligence, symbolized by Brahma who is the patron deity of intellect
    . The Bhagavad Gita says:
    When your intellect, though perplexed by what you have heard, shall stand immovable
    and steady, then shall you attain self-realization . (2.53)
    The goddess as restful sleep is an apt metaphor signifying her motherhood. When
    a mother sees her small child tired after playing in the fierce sun, she catches
    hold of him, feeds him and pats him to sleep, even against his own wishes, know
    ing very well that the sleep will restore his energy. Indeed, while our whole da
    y is spent in emptying our shakti, the compassionate goddess takes it on herself
    to continue replenishing it. So she puts Vishnu to rest, tired after the exhaus
    ting task of maintaining the universe, and when the next creative cycle begins,
    relieves him from his slumber.
    However, we cannot win over the two demons of attachment/aversion or praise/crit
    icism, relying solely on our own powers, like Lord Vishnu who was unable to defe
    at them even after many years of fierce battle. The only way to win over maya is
    to surrender ourselves to Mahamaya, the goddess who created it in the first pla
    ce. The fact that the two demons asked to be killed in a dry spot is also loaded
    with spiritual symbolism. Both these pairs of traits can only be destroyed on t
    he ground of Vairagya (disenchantment), which is the dry state of existence, dev
    oid of all worldly rasa.
    However, the state of the goddess symbolized by sleep is not her brightest manif
    estation. The Gita says:
    The pleasure arising from sleep is known as tamasic.

    (18.39)

    You might also like