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Spiritual Significance of the Ritual
The scriptures record the following dialogue between Sastri and
Atmanathan, giving the inner meaning of the above story.
Sastri : It is an allegory. The wild animals that the hunter
fought with are lust anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy and hatred. The
jungle is the fourfold mind, consisting of the subconscious mind, the
intellect, the ego and '''the conscious mind. It is in the mind that these
"wild animals' roam about freely. They must be killed. Our hunter was
pursuing them because he was a Yogi. If you want to be a real Yogi you
have to conquer these evil tendencies. Do you remember the name of the
hunter in the story?
Atmanathan : Yes, he was called Suswara.
Sastri : That's right. It means "melodious". The hunter
had a pleasant melodious voice. If a person practices Yams and Niyama and
is ever conquering his evil tendencies, he will develop certain external
marks of a Yogi. The first marks are lightness of the body, health,
steadiness, clearness of countenance and a pleasant voice. This stage has
been spoken of in detail in the Swetaswatara Upanishad. The hunter or the
Yogi had for many years practised Yoga and had cached the first stage. So
he is given the name Suswara. Do you remember where he was horn?
Atmanathan : Yes, his birthplace is Varanasi.
Sastri: Now, the Yogis call the Ajna Chakra by the name Varanasi.
This is the point midway between the eyebrows. It is regarded as the
meeting place of the three nerve currents (Nadis), namely, the Ida,
Pingala and the Sushumna. An aspirant is instructed to concentrate on that
point. That helps him to conquer his desires and evil qualities like anger
and so on. It is there that he gets a vision of the Divine Light within.
Atmanathan: Very interesting! But how do you explain his climbing
up the bael tree and all the other details of the worship?
Sastri: Have you ever seen a bael leaf?
Atmanathan: It has three leaves on one stalk.
Sastri : True. The tree represents the spinal column. The leaves
are threefold. They represent the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna Nadis, which
are the regions for the activity of the moon, the sun and fire
respectively, or which may be thought of as the three eyes of Shiva. The
climbing of the tree is meant to represent the ascension of the Kundalini
Shakti, the serpentine power, from the lowest nerve centre called the
Muladhara to the Ajna Chakra. That is the work of the Yogi.
Atmanathan: Yes, I have heard of the Kundalini and the various
psychic centres in the body. Please go on further; I am very interested to
know more.
Sastri: Good. The Yogi was in the waking state when he began his
meditation. He bundled up the birds and the animals he had slain and,
tying them on a branch of the tree, he rested there. That means he had
fully conquered his thoughts and rendered them inactive. He had gone
through the steps of Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, etc. On the tree he was
practicing concentration and meditation. When he felt sleepy, it means
that he was about to lose consciousness and go into deep sleep. So he
determined to keep awake.
Atmanathan: That is non clear to me; you certainly do explain it
very well. But why did he weep for his wife and children?
Sastri: His wife and children an none other than the world. One
who seeks the Grace of God must become an embodiment of love. He must have
an all-embracing sympathy. His shedding of tears is symbolical of his
universal love. In Yoga also, one cannot have illumination without Divine
Grace. without practicing universal love, one cannot win that Grace. One
must perceive one's own Self everywhere. The preliminary stage is to
identify one's own mind with the minds of ah created beings. That is
fellow-feeling or sympathy. Then one must rise above the limitations of
the mind and merge it in the Self. That happens only in the stage of
Samadhi, not earlier.
Atmanathan: Why did he Pluck and drop the bael leaves?
Sastri: That is mentioned in the story only to show that he had no
extraneous thoughts. He was not even conscious of what he was doing. All
his activity was confined to the three Nadis. The leaves, I have said
before, represent the three Nadis. He was in fact in the second state,
namely, the dream state, before he passed into the deep sleep state.
Atmanathan: He kept vigil the whole night, it is said.
Sastri: Yes, that means that he passed through the deep sleep
state successfully. The dawning of day symboliases the entrance into the
Fourth state called Turiya or superconsciousness.
Atmanathan: It is said that he came down and saw the Lingam. What
does that mean?
Sastri: That means that in the Turiya state he saw the Shiva
Lingam or the mark of Shiva in the form of the inner lights. In other
words, he had the vision of the Lord. That was an indication to him that
he would realise the supreme, eternal abode of Lord Shiva in course of
time.
Atmanathan: So it appears from what you say that the sight of the
lights is not the final stage?
Sastri: Oh no! That is only one step, albeit a difficult one. Now
think of how the story continues. He goes home and feeds a stranger. A
stranger is one whom you have not seen before. The stranger is no other
than the hunter himself, transformed into a new person.
The food was the likes and dislikes which he had killed the previous
night. But he did not consume the whole of it. A little still remained.
That was why he had to he reborn as King Chitrabhanu. Going to the world
of Shiva (Salokya) is not enough to prevent this. There are other stages
besides Salokya. These are Samipya, Sarupya and finally Sayujya. Have you
not heard of Jaya and Vijaya returning from Vaikunta?
Atmanathan: Yes, I have understood now.