The devas have been identified through Upanishads and
Vedas. These divine scriptures leave no doubt to explain that DEVAS are the
link between God and us, they are spiritual guides who have guided us both from
inside and also through books and avatars so that the humans get to understand
the true path to God. At a place it is said that devas are the rulers of our
organs of senses. At another place, it is said that they are the guardians of
dharma. They are referred to as torch-bearers towards the path of salvation. In
old times, a good number of people accepted their path and went to the next
world where there is permanent bliss. But if we are still living on this earth,
it is proof enough that we have been incapable of reaching the level that would
give us salvation.
This is courtesy the representatives of the Forces of
Darkness (called Zulmat in Quran). They have created such a maze around us,
have created so many paths and sub-paths, that it has become almost impossible
to identify the truth. As per the Divine Creation Plan for humans, we are
constantly being pulled by two forces. The Forces of Darkness’s job is to
misguide us from the Straight Path because people coming to the Straight Path
means defeat for the Forces of Darkness. That is why every time an avatar came,
forces started working immediately to digress us from that Path. The greatest
worshipper of Shiva – Ravana – left no stone unturned to digress Rama from
presenting his teachings, to the extent that even took away Rama’s beloved wife
Sita to far off Lanka so that Rama would follow him in pursuit. To Rama,
teachings of the Straight Path were dearer and that is why he even decided to
part away with his beloved wife, in whose love he had taken so much pain to go
to Lanka and conquer it. Same digressions in teachings and an attempt to
sabotage it can be seen every time a messenger of truth arrived, be it Krishna,
Jesus, Mohammad and the remaining Ahlulbayt.
Our friend on facebook, Narinder Singh, has expressed
his reservations about an asur’s ability to understand the path of the Vedas.
He says that Vedas have given several instances of Indra deva fighting to
defeat the asurs. Yes, I agree that Vedas have given such instances, but our
understanding of asurs itself is wrong. Vedas are talking about the incidents
that will happen when Indra dev will take birth in human body at ‘a secret
place’. Asurs are those who came to fight Indra dev, when he took birth in
human body. If this is not the correct understanding, then show us when Indra
dev fought with asurs and if you point to certain prehistoric wars, you will be
giving credence to the attacks that Christian missionaries used to do on
Hinduism by saying that they recount age old tales which had no relevance to
present times.
As regards Narinder Singh ji’s point that an asur can
never understand Vedic literature (regarding the description that the present
day Hindus give to the term ‘asur’), I could not find one verse in Veda and
Upanishads that say so. Moreover,
if this is the logic, then stop calling Vedas as having a universal appeal. I
have been repeatedly telling that the Forces of Darkness are quicker than you
could believe in deviating mankind from real teachings of the True Path. This
is so because the real fight is between the Forces of Light (represented by the
devas) and the Forces of Darkness. It is belief like this related to Asur which
was propagated that ensured that that the Hindus, despite waiting for the devas
to come in human form, rejected them when they came at a 'secret place' that
was identified with so-called asurs. Gita says that whenever evil predominates,
an avatar comes on earth. Gita is talking of entire earth as the workplace for
the devas and the Paramatma. But we because of our narrow vision confine the
devas, who have a universal role to play, to the Indian subcontinent alone.
Narinder
Singh ji further says: “In Christianity god
can only be viewed through window called Jesus and similarly in Islam god can
only be viewed through window of prophet and not independently.” Fact is that
when Vedas say that devas are the source of all dharma, when they link devas
with all austerity, when Krishna says that if you don’t offer your food back to
the devas (because all food is provided by them), you are a thief, it also
shows that Vedas too are of the view that dharma couldn’t be understood without
these devas. It is a pity that we have to reveal the identity of the devas
several thousand years after they were identified in the Vedas. Is this not
alone proof of what we are trying to say: that the Forces of Darkness never
want that humanity come to understand this path of the devas. It has washed
away the understanding and identity of the devas themselves, not to speak of
their path.
No point giving arguments as many counter arguments
can be given. I have been presenting my viewpoint in the light of divine
scriptures sacred to various religions. I will still rely on proofs from these
scriptures to support my arguments.
I have been repeatedly saying that the 14 Ahlulbayt
are actually the 14 Manus or Lights, who took birth in human body in the secret
place viz. the desert of Arabia. Let us first see some of points I have from
the Islamic side to support my argument.
Prophet Mohammad said:
I was a Prophet even when Adam was between sand and
water.
And he said:
Ali and my self are divisions of the same noor
(light)
And Hadees-e-Kisa (mentioned
in several authentic books of Muslims) says that all things including the sun,
the moon, the stars, the earth, have been created by God in love of the
Ahlulbayt.
Prophet Mohammad is described
to have gone skywards to meet the Manifest Self. Certain authentic traditions
state that when Quran refers to aalin (the high people) during the discussion
between Satan and Manifest Self at the time of creation of Adam, it is
reference to the first five of the Ahlulbayt. And traditions also describe that
the names that were told to Adam and angels were of the first five of Ahlulbayt
viz. Panjetan or the five bodies. When the Panjetan themself were presented in
front, the angels couldn’t identify them by name whereas Adam was able to tell
clearly that this is Mohammad, this is Ali, this is Fatima, this is Hasan and
this is Husain. Then Allah, the God, said, ‘What I know (about this man), you
know not (O angels). This shows that God has shown confidence that humanity
will eventually recognize the true guiding agents to God’s path and man has
been created with far greater capabilities than angels. Moreover, there are
countless descriptions of the Ahlulbayt in Quran and other traditions. God
takes guarantee of their purity in Quran. Salvation is not possible without
following them, says a tradition related to Prophet Mohammad. While living on
earth in human form, they showed countless miracles which confirm their
supernatural role. At the same time, they were the most steadfast in worship,
best in piety and the biggest champions of peace, truth and justice. Their
coming on earth was foretold by previous scriptures. When they came, the Forces
of Darkness used all their power to attempt to corrupt their message to the
extent possible. They are 14; 13 of them took birth in male bodies while 1 took
birth in female body. They have seven names. It is the first 5 of them who are
known as the Panjetan (or five bodies), which when described in the Upanishads,
as five basic elements, confused the common people. Prophet Mohammad said that
the first of them is Mohammad, last of them is Mohammad, middle one is
Mohammad, in short all 14 are Mohammad, thereby implying that the one noor that
was created, got divided into 2 noors, exactly same as the first noor, and
eventually 14 noors got created, who too were exactly same as the first of the
created noors.
Let us now have the name of 14
Ahlulbayt, with 7 names:
·
Mohammad,
son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Muttalib
·
Ali,
son of Abu Talib, son of Abdul Muttalib (born inside Kaaba in a miraculous
manner) (Ali and Mohammad are thus cousins as well).
·
Fatima,
daughter of Mohammad married to Ali (Mohammad used to stand up in his daughter’s
respect whenever she came. Prophet repeatedly used to say that Fatima is part
of me. A similar description is available in Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad. At a
place it is mentioned in Upanishads that people used to ask question how it was
possible that the two got married because she was like a daughter to him. If we
see the relationship between Fatima and Ali, where Mohammad and Ali are
cousins, one can understand why Upanishads talk of such an absurd question.
Fact is that even to this day, Aditi is described in dictionaries as having an
incestuous relationship with her father.
·
Hasan,
son of Ali and Fatima
·
Husain,
son of Ali and Fatima (Hasan and Husain together are called Hasnain. The Vedas
describe them as Aswins. There are two types of sacrifices that these Aswins
are said to have given. In actuality, Hasan was killed by poison, Husain was
killed by sword; thus the two types of sacrifices.
These are the first five of the Ahlulbayt. Remaining 9
Ahlulbayt were born in Husain’s progeny.
·
Ali,
son of Husain.
·
Mohammad,
son of Ali
·
Jafar,
son of Mohammad
·
Musa,
son of Jafar
·
Ali,
son of Musa
·
Mohammad,
son of Ali
·
Ali,
son of Mohammad
·
Hasan,
son of Ali
·
Mohammad,
son of Hasan (This is the 14th Ahlulbayt, also known as Mahdi, the
awaited. It is believed that he is still living and will appear towards the end
of this world. He is supposed to be the same as the Kalki avatar.
·
Let us
now replace the name of the devas, wherever the five elements have been
mentioned and see whether some of the absurdity has been removed. The five
elements sky, air, earth, water and fire are Mohammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and
Husain. We will do likewise for 14:
Adhyaya
II of the Paingala Upanishad mentions the presiding deities of the organs in
the following order: Dik (the quarters), Vayu, Arka (the sun), Varuna, Aswini
Devas (they are actually two, one of them being Agni), Indra, Upendra, Mrtyu
(the God of death), Prajapati, the Moon, Vishnu, the four-faced Brahma and
Sambhu (Siva).
Likewise,
the names that appear in Khanda V of Subala Upanishad too are 14, though it is
not mentioned here that they are devatas.
The names are as follows: Sun, dik (the quarters), earth, Varuna, Vayu,
Vak (speech), Agni, Indra, Vishnu (or Upendra), Mrtyu, Prajapati, Moon, Brahma,
Rudra (name of Siva).
Isn’t it clear that the
presiding deities of the organs are fourteen which include names like Varuna
(water), Agni, Earth and Vayu, thereby proving that these are not the names of
elements. How sad that the various commentators saw them as mere physical
elements. The word used is deity thereby confirming that Agni, Vayu, etc. have
been used as appellations for the devas. Moreover, if Agni, Vayu, etc. are
elements, then Vishnu, Brahma, Rudra, Sambhu, Indra, Prajapati, etc. too should
be elements. Commentators are mostly quiet on this subject.
As you have seen from the aforementioned
names of 14 Ahlulbayt, 4 of them are named Mohammad, 4 are named Ali, 2 are
named Hasan, and one each is Jafar, Musa, Husain and Fatima. In all, there are
seven names. It is this nomenclature and attempt to describe it that has often
confused the scholars.
To give you an example, Indra,
Upendra, Brahma and Vishnu may have been used for each of the 4 Mohammads.
Vayu, Sambhu or Rudra could be references to several Alis in the chain.
Likewise, Earth is Fatima; Husain is Agni, and so on. However, we admit that
more research need to be done to assign the names of all the fourteen devas
with the names of each of the fourteen Ahlulbayt.
What is certain though is that
the Vedas and Upanishads have used terms like Indra, Akash (Space), Brahma,
etc. for the deva which descended as Mohammad and Rudra, Vayu, Marut, Aditya
etc. for deva which descended as Ali. Upanishads have described Maruts and
Adityas to be12 and out of 14 Ahlulbayt, 12 are described as Imams. Rudra is
the chief Aditya or Marut and Ali is the chief of all 12 Imams. Agni is
undoubtedly Husain and Earth is surely Fatima.
In Svetasvatara Upanishad,
sage Svetasvatara gives the cause of our creation as something else than the
Brahman (God). Brahman created the devatma-sakti (the power of the combined
soul of Devatas; this has been mentioned by none else than Radhakrishnan) and
then the mankind was created out of this Divine Atma (Manifest Self), when
Brahman (God) was pleased with their worship. The fourteen devas who were
created out of this One Manifest Self or devatma sakti govern our lives and
bodies. It can henceforth be inferred that the cause of creation through the
Manifest Self or devatma shakti was to worship the Brahman.
Now see the account from
Prasna-Upanishad that we have given a little earlier. (Translations used are
from Dr. Radhakrishnan).
II.1 Then Bhargava of the Vidarbha country asked him
(Pippalada): Venerable Sir, how many powers support the created world? How many
illumine this? And who, again, among them is the greatest?
II.2. To him, he said: ‘Ether (space) verily is such
a power – wind, fire, water, earth, speech, mind, eye and ear too. They, having
illumined it, declare, “We sustain and support this body.”
Read
the number of names in II.2. Nine names are taken. These are the nine devas who
are described as sustaining and
supporting this body, but the very next verse gives name of 5 more, to make it
14. It also says that One Light divided five-fold, which is exactly similar to
the concept of first 5 as Panjetan and all 14 as Ahlulbayt.
II.3. Life, the greatest of them, said to them: ‘Do
not cherish this delusion; I, alone, dividing myself fivefold, sustain and
support this body.’
Life has been used for all the
devas originated from Vishnu, thus confirming the devas’ relationship with
Vishnu.
II.5. As fire, he (Life, prana) burns; he is the sun
(Fire or Husain). He is the bountiful rain deva (Indra or Mohammad); He is the
wind (Vayu or Ali). He is the earth (Fatima), matter, deva (Hasan). He is being
and non-being and what is immortal.
Five devas or the five
Panjetans described here along with the nine before make fourteen Manus or 14
Ahlulbayt. In order to quell any doubt, if it arises, next verse clarifies
their relationship once again.
II.6. As spokes in the centre of a wheel, everything
is established in life; the Rg (verses), the Yajus (formulas) and the Samans
(chants) as also sacrifice, valour and wisdom.
Be it the Rig-Veda, the
Yajur-Veda or the Sama-Veda – all are established in Life or these devas, who
are the sustainers and supporters of all life in this cosmos (as per Vedas).
II.7. As the lord of creatures, thou movest in the
womb; it is thou myself that art born again. O Prana, creatures – here bring
offering to thee who dwellest with the vital breaths.
Life or Vishnu is the lord of
all creatures. It is Vishnu who is responsible for birth of creatures from the
wombs, and without Vishnu births would not occur. All creatures bring offerings
to these devas who dwell with our vital breaths, thereby meaning that it is
they who sustain and support our lives.
II.8. Thou art the chief bearer (of offerings) to the
devas; thou art the first offering to the fathers; thou art the true practice
of the seers, descendents of Atharvan and Angiras.
The word ‘deva’ in II.8 fully
endorses our view that the devas are being described here who are 14. It also
confirms that Indra, Vayu, Agni, etc. are devas and those who translated them
as material fire, wind, etc. have erred.
Clearly, the Life (signifying
Vishnu) is meant as the receiver of offerings, even if it is given to other devas.
Offering is given to Life even before it is given to fathers. The good acts;
teachings and righteous practices of the seers are dependent on Life itself.
The next verse, II.9, also
confirms that Shiva (Rudra) is one of the important devas.
II.9. Indra art thou, O Life (prana), by thy valour;
Rudra art thou as a protector. Thou movest in the atmosphere as the sun, the
lord of the lights.
It has been made clear here
that Indra (Mohammad) was the subject of discussion till here. Rudra is Ali.
Sun we have said has been used for Agnideva (Husain).
II.10. When thou pourest down rain, then these
creatures breathe (and) live in a state of bliss (thinking) that there will be
food according to their desire.
It is Mohammad (Indra) who is
responsible for all rains.
II.11. Thou art ever pure, O Prana, the one seer, the
eater, the real lord of all. We are the givers of what is to be eaten. O
all-pervading Air, thou art our father.
Vishnu or the Manifest Self is described as pure.
This is the reason why Quran takes guarantee that the Ahlulbayt are pure. Even
Paingala Upanishad has described the formation of devas from the sattvik (pure)
essence of Vishnu. The phrase ‘real lord of all’ means that the earlier
description was of lords (devas) but now the real lord of all devas – Vishnu –
is being praised.
II.13. All this is under the control of life, which
is well established in the three worlds. Protect us as a mother her sons. Grant
to us prosperity and wisdom.
Mundaka-Upanishad says:
II.I.I. This is the truth. As from a blazing fire,
sparks of like form issue forth by the thousands, even so, O beloved, many
kinds of beings issue forth from the immutable and they return thither too.
Just as sparks from fire have the same properties as
fire but are not fire, just as rivers have the same water as oceans but are not
called oceans, likewise the 14 devas or Ahlulbayt have the same characteristics
as God but are not God.
II.I.2: Divine and formless is the person. He is
without and within, unborn, without breath and without mind, pure and higher
than the highest immutable.
The Non-manifest Form of the
Absolute God is being talked about here, whose Manifest Form created the 14
Ahlulbayt.
II.1.3: From him are born life, mind, all the
sense-organs (also) ether, air, light, water and earth, the supporter of all.
II.1.4: Fire is His head, His eyes are the sun and
the moon, the regions of space are His ears, His speech the revealed Vedas; air
is His life and His heart the world. Out of his feet the earth (is born);
indeed He is the self of all beings.
You
are invited to note that all speech, and even the hymns of the four Vedas are
associated with these devas. This is the verdict of Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad
(as you will see later). This proves our view that the Absolute God left it in
the hands of the devas or the Ahlulbayt to endeavour to bring the mankind to
the worship of One Absolute God. At the same time, it created another Force
that misleads us from the true path. This has been done as a test for humans. Unfortunately,
neither the Indo-Aryans nor the Muslims understood the real position of these
devas or Ahlulbayt in God’s schemes. This is irrespective of the fact that some
Muslim traditions even quote from an Ahlulbayt that several Islamic rulings (that
are ascribed to God) were actually framed by them. Muslims never gave it a
thought but the truth is that the rulings that are talked about are those that
have been mentioned in the Quran. Doesn’t it reveal that the Muslims need to
know more about the true position of their Ahlulbayt? Reading of the Upanishads
and Vedas is surely going to throw light on this.
Another interesting point to
be noted is that one of the self is named Aditi. Aditi, we know is known as the
mother of the devas, according to Hindu scriptures. She is also the second half
of the Aditya. Aditi, for sure, is the one and only devi among the fourteen
devas. It is unfortunate that while the name of Aditi abounds in the
scriptures, including the Vedas and Puranas, scholars have not related the two
together. Truth is that Aditi, the first of the divisions of the Self, as has
been described in this Upanishad, is the same as Aditi, the character described
in various scriptures.
Brhad aranyaka Upanishad
I.4.10: Brahman, indeed was this in the beginning. It knew itself only as ‘I am
Brahman’. Therefore (after chanting) it became all. Whoever among the devas
became awakened to this, he indeed became that. It is the same in the case of
seers, same in the case of men. Seeing this, indeed, the seer Vama-deva knew,
“I was Manu and the Sun too.’ This is so even now. Whoever knows thus, ‘I am
Brahman’, becomes this all. Even the devas (divine persons) cannot prevent him
becoming thus, for he becomes their self. So whoever worships another divinity
thinking that he is one and another, he knows not. He is like an animal to the
devas. As many animals serve a man so does each man serve the devas (divine
persons). Even if one animal is taken away, it causes displeasure, what should
one say of many (animals)? Therefore it is not pleasing to those that men
should know this.
Isn’t this proof of our
explanation? Either Brahman or the Manifest Self of God is to be worshipped and
not the devas individually. People of the time had started worshipping the
devas and looked at them in high regard. Manifest Self pervades the Self of the
devas. Devas are not an end of the process of creation. From the self of devas,
the entire cosmos was created. The fourteen devas therefore have a role to play
in our creation as well. Yet, owing to the creation of devas from that One Self
(Manifest Self of Brahman – the Absolute Non-Manifest God), it is the Brahman
who is to be worshipped. This Brahman is called Allah by Muslims. There are
innumerable other names as well. One who knows that God pervades everything,
because of the process described above, becomes one with the God. Even the
devas cannot prevent this from happening. Those who do not consider so are like
animals in a man’s possession. They may be moving around in human body but they
are actually animals. ‘Even if one animal is taken away’ means that even if one
man digresses, it causes displeasure to devas, who have taken upon them to lead
the world to God. What if the entire humanity digresses?
The last line of verse I.4.10
is important. It says: “Even if one animal is taken away, it causes
displeasure, what should one say of many (animals)? Therefore it is not
pleasing to those that men should know this.” This shows that there are some
demonic characters who do not want people to know the true knowledge about
Brahman and his relationship with the devas. Satan or his representatives (who
are the men of demonic characters) would try their best that man does not
return to the true path of worship of God, the path shown by His true
representatives – the devas – and would do everything possible to efface these
teachings.
There are several other
descriptions in Upanishads that tell that demons blew away the knowledge. Even
when Paingala Upanishad describes the formation of devas from the sattvik
(pure) essence of Vishnu, there is description of another creation having
relation to materialism. This is clearly the description of the Force of
Darkness. Despite presence of such
descriptions, our friend Narendra Singh says that the concept of ‘Force of
Darkness’ is not mentioned in any of the Hindu scriptures. Gita too describes
these forces as being devoured by the Manifest Self. But Narendra Singh does
not believe in Gita. So we are giving this proof here.
Third Brahmana of
Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad talks of the knowledge related to the Divine Creation
Plan. It says that this knowledge is so important that even the devas used this
knowledge to gain victory over demons. Demons who did not chant the Udgitha and
tried to replace it with evil, perished in the end. Says Anandagiri: “The fact
that this knowledge is the Udgitha can be understood by word ‘proksitam’
meaning sanctified, mantra-samskrtam.” Unfortunately, this knowledge has
remained lost to us till now and the perishing of demons that has been talked about
has not happened yet but will happen in the near future when the true knowledge
about the true path surfaces.
This Brahmana starts with the
description of demons and the devas. It clearly states how the fight between
men of demonic character and devas has continued in all times. Evil men have
tried to corrupt this knowledge again and again, and the devas have tried to
fight them, and have not refrained from sacrifices, even if it meant giving
their lives.
It is unfortunate that
commentators have taken this to mean some prehistoric occasion when devas and
demons fought a prolonged battle. Once this meaning was understood, several
myths grew around this, thus substantiating the aforementioned view. Truth is
that at all times, it is we men, and the evil among us, who have fought with
the devas and killed them. This fight between good and bad is still going on in
this world. The devas are ceaselessly trying to lead us to God, while the
demons representing the Force of Darkness (zulmat) wants us to corrupt that
knowledge so that we do not come close to the straight path that leads to God.
See how the fight between
devas and demons is described in this Brahmana.
I.III.1
There were two classes of the descendants of
Prajapati, the devas and the demons.” “The gods (read devas) said, come, let us
overcome the demons at the sacrifice through the Udgitha.
I.III.2:
They said to speech, chant (the Udgitha) for us; ‘so
be it’, said speech and chanted for them. Whatever enjoyment there is in
speech, it secured for the devas by chanting: that it spoke well was for
itself. The demons knew, verily, by this chanter, they (devas) will overcome
us. They rushed upon it and pierced it with evil. That evil which consists in
speaking what is improper, that is that evil.
It is evident from
aforementioned verse that some speech was given to the men; the devil among
them realized immediately that they would be defeated because of this speech.
Therefore, they corrupted the speech with evil, so that nobody could recognize
the true face of the teachings. We will prove later that the Udgitha too stands
for the 14 devas. Therefore, it is clear that the demons pierced the speech, so
much so that none takes the name of the 14 devas now. Likewise, they did the
same to life-breath, as is described in I.III.3.
I.III.3:
Then they said to the life-breath, chant (the
Udgitha) for us. ‘So be it’, said the life-breath and chanted for them.
Whatever enjoyment there is in the life-breath, it secured for the devas by
chanting; that it smelt well was for itself. The demons knew, ‘verily, by this
chanter, they will overcome us.’ They rushed upon it and pierced it with evil.
That evil which consists in smelling what is improper, that is that evil.
After this, in I.III.4-6, it
is described that demons did the same to eye, ear and mind. Every time the
Udgitha was chanted, they pierced the knowledge with evil thereby effacing the
true teachings of devas from the eye, ear and mind.
I.III.7:
Then they said to the vital breath in the mouth:
‘Chant (the Udgitha) for us.’ ‘So be it,’ said this breath and chanted for
them. They (the demons) knew, ‘verily, by this chanter, they will overcome us.’
They rushed upon him and desired to pierce him with evil. But as a clod of
earth would be scattered by striking against a rock, even so they were
scattered in all directions and perished. Therefore the devas became and the
demons were crushed. He who knows this becomes his true self and the enemy who
hates him is crushed.
The men of demonic character,
who had corrupted the real position of devas and obliterated their names from
speech, life breath, eye, ear and mind, failed when they tried to remove their
names from the vital breath. Consequently, the demons themselves vanquished.
This shows the lofty position
of devas in relation to our life. We know now that the cosmos was created after
the creation of the devas. But what we do not know yet is the fact that the
cosmos was created out of the noor or light of the devas and they
continue to be an important constituent of the entire cosmos, including us. Upanishads
that explicitly describe how the 14 devas – the fourteen guardians of the
spheres and the rulers of our organs of senses and action – are part of our
beings, so much so that when the last of the deva on earth is killed, the
entire cosmos will be destroyed. That the world is heading towards dissolution
is evident from the fact that 13 of the Ahlulbayt have already been killed and
only the last remains, waiting for the suitable time when Vishnu would ask him
to appear. That day is not very far away.
There is no doubt that evil
attempting to corrupt or obliterate the names of the devas is being talked
about here. That the subject returns to the talk of creation of the devas in
the succeeding chapter further substantiates this claim. It is clearly stated
that though the demons would gain victory initially, it will be the devas whose
knowledge and teachings would gain superiority towards the end. That time is
going to come soon.
The Forces of Darkness are
also talked about in Maitri Upanishad. VII.9 says:
Verily, Brhaspati (the teacher of the Devas) became
Sukra (the teacher of the demons) and for the security of Indra and for the
destruction of demons created this ignorance. By this (they) declare the
inauspicious to be auspicious and the auspicious to be inauspicious. They saw
that there should be attention to the law which is destructive of the
(teachings of the Vedas) and the other scriptures. Therefore one should not
attend to this teaching. It is false. It is like a barren woman. Mere pleasure
is the fruit there of as also of one who has fallen from the proper course. It
should not be attempted. For this has it been said: Widely opposed and
divergent are these two, the one known as ignorance, and the other as
knowledge. I (Yama) think that Naciketas is desirous of obtaining knowledge and
many desires do not rend you. He who knows at the same time knowledge and
ignorance together, having crossed death by means of ignorance he wins the
immortal by knowledge. Those who are wrapped up in the midst of ignorance,
fancying themselves alone wise and learned, they wander, hard smitten and
deluded like blind men led by one who is himself blind.
It is clear the conflict
between good and bad was at its peak and the chief worry of the followers of
the true path was to safeguard the teachings of the Vedas. The distinction
between ignorant and wise had diminished or almost evaporated. Those who were
ignorant were considered knowledgeable and likewise, vice versa. People doubted
the revealed scriptures like Vedas and stories were circulating regarding the identity
of Devas, who were sometimes portrayed playing villainous roles. Some of these,
like the fight between Devas and demons were so sporadically spread that they
have even reached us as myths. It is extremely doubtful whether they are based
on truth. Yet, such was the intensity of these narrations that the sage Yama
had to take recourse to one such story to reveal the importance of Vedas and to
downgrade the value of demons. This is apparent from the following verse.
See VII.10 of the same
Upanishad:
Verily, the devas and the demons, being desirous of
(knowing) the self went into the presence of Brahma. Having bowed before him
they said, Revered Sir, we are desirous of (knowing) the self, so do you tell
us. Then, after having reflected a long while, he thought in himself. Verily,
these demons are desirous of a self different (from the true one). Therefore a
very different doctrine was told to them. On that these deluded (demons) here
live their life, with intense attachment, destroying the means of salvation and
praising what is false. They see the false, as if it were true, as in jugglery.
Therefore what is set forth in the Vedas, that is the truth. On what is said in
the Vedas, on that wise men live their life. Therefore a Brahman should not
study what is not of the Veda. This should be the purpose.
Some people may ask that if
this is true that devas when they took birth as humans were called Ahlulbayt,
why is it that their names have not been taken. The Upanishads and Vedas
themselves give the answer. It is said that their names are not being taken for
their safety. Moreover, just as there are innumerable Indras, Saraswatis,
Varunas, etc., if their names had been taken in advance, innumerable people
would have named their children by their names, thereby creating a great
confusion. Moreover, name is given after the birth of the child. The devas
being talked about had not taken birth in human form till the time of Vedas. It
would be only later that they would take birth in a particular family and given
certain specific names. Otherwise, they are devas right from the beginning of
this creation. And Vedas have given all the hints that would lead a thinking
mind to the true identity of the devas.
To be continued...
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