Q: “Guruji, why did Shiva-ji instruct Agastya rishi to go to South India?”
Guruji: “It’s strange story. Once upon a time the Vindhyachal mountain became jealous of the Himalaya and started rising to become the highest mountain. Eventually it started creating problems, so Shiva-ji asked Agastya rishi to go to the south, as the mountain would have to stay low to give him passage, and instructed the rishi to tell the mountain to not rise until he returned. The rishi went to south India and never returned, and the mountain stayed low till this day (laughs). It could be symbolic as well – the rishi might have controlled the mountain with his powers .
“It’s only due to Agastya rishi’s impact that the south Indian culture is so rich. Shiva-ji’s worship is very common, and compared to the north, the common man is more educated as well as peaceful and well-behaved.”
Q: “So, Guruji, should we identify ourselves with Aryans or Dravidians?”
Guruji: “It’s all mixed up now. We are definitely not Aryans, because Aryans used to butcher cows and eat their meat. Vedas are full of these references.”
Q: “I thought killing a cow was always considered the biggest sin!”
Guruji: “Only in recent times, after Lord Krishna’s advent. It wasn’t like this before. I read a story in vedas long time back in which Vashistha rishi went to someone’s place and in his welcome feast, young healthy calves were slaughtered and their delicate meat was served. There was a king named Raktidev. In his kingdom, 10,000 cows used to be slaughtered everyday in honor of rishis and brahmins. An entire river formed out of washing the hides of those slaughtered cow – the Chambal river. The original name of Chambal river is Charmanavati – formed out of charma (hide).
“Krishna was the first person to revolutionize vedic culture, which also seems like was his primary objective. He deposed Indra – the main deity of vedas – and stopped worship of Brahma. Krishna’s work was revolutionary! Before Him, all avatars came only to help Indra, as Vishnu is Indra’s younger brother – Upendra. Krishna stopped Vishnu’s worship and started a new tradition of caring for cows. That’s why he was called Gopal [go = cow, pal = to raise]. He started the worship of Goverdhan mountain and gave the discipline of cow-herding, which became the most virtuous of all work. No one else did all this before.
“Also, what we call the degradation of Hindu culture is basically uprooting of the vedic culture. Brahmins had become very powerful and corrupt. If a lower-caste person were to hear vedic verses by mistake, they would fill molten lead in his ears. There was no limits to cruelty at that time, however Hindus feel about it today. They have no idea what kind of changes Krishna has brought.
“The old vedic gods got so out of control, they even stood up against Shiva! After Daksha yagya, when they opposed Shiva just to get a part of sacrificial offerings and Mother Sati had to die, they have been continuously getting punished. That’s why no vedic god is worshiped today – neither Vishnu, nor Brahma, Pusha, Varuna, or anybody else. New gods have emerged – Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Radha-Krishna. Even a child makes fun of Indra. This means they were not as noble as have been portrayed in vedas.
“Also, if you read carefully, it’d feel like these vedic rituals were more like hardcore tantric rituals. For example, king Harishchandra couldn’t have a child. So he appeased Varuna, who said you’ll beget a son but you’ll have to give it to me at a particular age. When the time came, Harishchandra didn’t give his son to Varuna, so he fell seriously ill. To appease Varuna again, he did a yagya which required human sacrifice. Vishwamitra rishi presided over the yagya ceremony. It’s a touching story and also very famous. For the human sacrifice, Vishwamitra suggested the king to buy somebody. One poor Brahmin had 3 sons. The eldest one Brahmin refused to part with as the eldest son was going to continue his lineage. The mother refused to part with the youngest son as he was very dear to her heart. The middle son they sold to the king for money. In the story he was saved in the end – when he was tied to the sacrificial pole, he became enlightened since he had overcome the attachment of mother and father, and started uttering verses of vedas. Vishwamitra refused to kill the boy, claiming that he had now reached the state of a rishi.
“But the main point is, there used to be such rituals when human sacrifices were offered. You must have heard about Ashwamedha yagya; in that, the horse used to be sacrificed at the end. Just like people today donate cows believing that after death they would cross the Vaitarni holding the cow’s tail, at that time kings used to sacrifice horses believing that after they die, they’d find a horse standing there, all saddled and ready, to take them to heaven!
“Today no one would like to do such rituals. Also, yoga wasn’t very well known. There used to be a sect called vraatya, who used to do fasts, etc. Among them there used to be a few yogis. But they were always segregated since they didn’t accept vedic rituals.”
Q: “Guruji, weren’t rishis yogis?”
Guruji: “They were expert in rituals and had tantric powers. Not all rishis were yogis – some were. Rishis have just been vying to control the gods. The only stories you hear about them are how they got tempted by this nymph and that nymph. You wouldn’t find such stories about yogis. That’s probably people say that we are children of rishis and munis – they were always about impregnating some queen or seducing some princess (laughs). And they were so powerful that everybody had to abide.
“There’s a story in Chandogya Upanishad: There was a king named Janushruti. One day, the king was standing on the roof of his palace when some swans flew past, making sounds like ‘raikva, raikva’. In sanskrit it means whatever is there is with Raikya.
“So the king searched for a Raikya and he found one Raikya sitting naked near a bullock-cart, scratching his back. When the king asked for knowledge, Raikya threw him out saying that a low-caste king didn’t deserve such knowledge. The king had a daughter, about 15-16 years old, and very beautiful. The king went to Raikya again and offered his daughter to him. Raikya said, ‘O king, even though you are not worthy, your daughter’s beautiful face is compelling me to give you the knowledge’. And then he gave him knowledge that everything is air! But the moral of the story is that Raikya rishi got aroused by the princess and to get her, he gave the king a little bit of information.
“Vedas as filled with such stories. We should be glad that we are born in a time free of the shackles of vedas, thanks to Lord Krishna. The government has now banned cow-slaughter MP – the first thing Uma Bharti did as part of her new administration. In Chattisgarh as well. This is a good improvement.
“We can conclude that Lord Krishna brought about the end of vedic times. Even in Gita he has denounced vedas three times. Nobody wants to go heaven now. Everybody’s preaching now-a-days that there’s nothing in heaven, we should seek the lotus feet of this god (laughs), or seek liberation, or self-realization.”
[20110108-2] Recorded: Dec 24, 2003