10 – Who Kept The Gatekeepers Out

Hi Friends!

Today let us look at a story which involves the first maanasputras or mind-born-sons of Lord Brahma, and what happened when they were stopped by two divine Gatekeepers, and the far-reaching consequences of that.

As we covered in an earlier post, the first four mind-born sons of Lord Brahma were the Four Kumaras. They were (i) the Ancient One or Sanaka, (ii) the Eternal One or Sanatana, (iii) the Ever-Joyful One or Sanandana, and (iv) the Ever-Young One of Sanatkumara. They were so knowledgeable and blissful in the contemplation of truth, that they refused to be part of the creation process as it was too materialistic. Due to the purity of their thoughts, and actions they always looked like five-years old, though they were four of the most ancient in the creation.

As they did not take any duties of creation, and never had a family of their own, they obviously had a lot of “free time”.

So they used that time to study about prime knowledge, considered to be in the Vedas with their father Lord Brahma. Sometimes they met for discussions and debates about the intricacies of this knowledge with Lord Shiva. As only Lord Vishnu used to take earthly incarnations regularly, they always kept finding ways to meet and share the understanding of the way of preservation from Lord Vishnu, and to his incarnations.

So one fine day the Four Kumaras decided to go meet up with Lord Vishnu, at his abode. As is wont with those who are too intent on learning, and also of small children of five-years age, they did not think it was needed to inform in advance. So when they reached the gates of Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu, they were stopped by the gatekeepers there.

Now these gatekeepers were one of the closest associates of Lord Vishnu, and always wanted to look after his comfort. In fact whenever these two gatekeepers, Jaya and Vijaya, are represented they look very similar to him, with one small and important difference. For that we will take a small detour and describe how the form of Vishnu is represented (and may be a few possible reasons for the same).

Vishnu has four hands. This denotes additional and divine abilities, as well as what we can call multi-tasking. Very important if you are the Lord of Preservation of Creation, and Dharma, and have promised to take incarnations whenever needed. Now he is normally shown to be holding three (or four) specific things.

• First, and most well known is a divine Discus, called Sudarshana Chakra. The name means “the discus of auspicious vision”. It is supposed to be one of the most dangerous weapon, with one crore (1 followed by 7 zeroes) serrated spikes that can cut anything, and so fast that it is almost impossible to escape from. This denotes the mind, something which cuts with multiple edges (“thoughts”), and so fast that it is almost impossible to escape from.
• Second, is the Five-Pronged Conch (“shankha”), called Panchajanya, which was one of the precious gifts that came from the churning of the sea. The sound of a shankha is supposed to denote the purest note of Om, hence is considered auspicious. It is also considered a harbinger of victory.
• Third, is the Mace, sometimes named as Kaumodaki, which some say means “joy of earth”, and some say means “stupefier of mind”. It is supposed to denote mental and physical strength, hence is the source of all joy, or success, on earth. It also can be seen to denote the strongest force on earth, i.e. Time. As passage of time gives us joy as we exist on earth, but also (as per learned sages) stupefies our mind if we become too materialistic.
• The fourth hand of Vishnu is sometimes represented as empty and in the form of abhaya-mudra. This denotes that Vishnu is a gentle God, and wants all of creation to be unafraid, as he would protect them. Sometimes this hand is shown to be holding a lotus, or Kamalam. As we mentioned in an earlier post the lotus denotes the start of creation, when it rose from the navel of Vishnu, and from inside it Lord Brahma arose.

So, Lord Vishnu is Shankha-Chakra-Gada-Pani (Holder of Conch, Discus and Mace in his Hands). And so are Jaya and Vijaya. Their fourth hand though is neither raised in abhaya-mudra (telling all to be fearless), nor holding a lotus (denoting role in creation). Instead they are shown holding a sword in their fourth hand. This denotes that where Lord Vishnu would want to create something or grant protection to the world, these gatekeepers are more aggressive.

Jaya-Vijaya were especially aggressive on this particular day. Instead of letting the seekers, and givers, of knowledge to go meet Lord Vishnu, they stopped the Four Kumaras, thinking them to be mere kids out to trouble their Lord while he rested.

Normally this would not have affected the temper of these learned Sages, but maybe as per Lord Vishnu’s plan, or their own, they got extremely displeased with this “covetousness” of Jaya-Vijaya. They proclaimed their curse: “O Gatekeepers of Vaikuntha. You have become so possessive of Lord Vishnu, that you think you alone have a right to that. This false pride has made you disrespect learned sages, such as us. We hereby curse you to be exiled away from your Lord, and spend countless lives on Earth. To be able to understand the pain of being kept away from someone you like, and respect.”

Jaya and Vijaya, threw down the multiple weapons in their hands, and started weeping and requesting the Kumaras to take back the curse, as they could not bear being away from their friend, and Lord. By this time Vishnu also came to the gate. On understanding the situation, and after taking the permission of the Young-Looking Sages, Lord Vishnu gave two options to Jaya-Vijaya to attenuate the curse, as a curse by the learned sages could not be taken back, just made more bearable.

• Option 1: The two brothers (for they were brothers) could take seven births, when they lived long and blameless lives, and be known for their piety and bhakti of Lord Vishnu. They would by their example increase the level of“good behaviour” on earth, and serve the great cause of Dharma. May be making even the Kali-Yuga, when the Bull of Dharma stands on just one leg, more bearable.
• Option 2: The two ex-gatekeepers of Vishnu could take three births each, and that too would be cut short violently. As they would live sinful lives, and be known for their hatred for Lord Vishnu, or his current incarnations. They would by their actions increase the level of “wrongful actions” on earth, and serve the cause of, and be one of the foremost factors of Adharma. They would take birth once each in Kreta Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dwaapar Yuga. They might make the later coming Kali Yuga more unbearable, by their earlier actions.

Now, you all know the background. These two gatekeepers were close companions of Lord Vishnu, who is sworn to be the Protector of Dharma, and Preserver of Creation.

Given a choice between (i) making the world a better place, but away for longer time from their friend and lord, and (ii) making the world a worse place, but being away for less time from Vaikuntha; what choice should they have made?

If you were in their situation, what choice would you have made? [May answer in the comments.]

They joined their palms and said: “If the learned Kumaras’ curse can not be taken back, then we choose to take three short births as foremost enemies of Vishnu, rather than seven long lives as devotees of Vishnu. As whatever be the actions in these lives, our souls would remain devotees of Vishnu and well-wishers of goodness. And our enmity would be so strong, and colourful, that this would be ensuring more people know the stories of the fight between Dharma and Adharma. May be we won’t be there as adherents of good behaviour in Kali Yuga, but our stories will be heard (or read) in that dark time. And the pain we cause our loved ones, and the world in general, may deter a few from walking paths of unrighteousness. Having said that, the main reason of our choice is that we cannot bear even one moment of being away from our Lord, and would like to come back to Vaikuntha as soon as possible.”

The choice taken by Jaya-Vijaya, whose names actually means victory, was extremely bitter-sweet, and seems defeatist. We would talk of these stories, in later posts. Let’s end this post by just mentioning these births.

• In Kreta or Satya Yuga, Jaya was born as the One with Golden Eyes, or Hiranyaksha. To defeat him, Vishnu had to take incarnation as the ultra-aggressive Boar or Varaha. Vijaya was born as the younger brother of Hiranyaksha, named Hiranyakashipu, or the One Clothed in Gold. To end his evil, Vishnu came out of a pillar in the fearsome Lion-Man or Narasimha. The third and fourth incarnations of Vishnu.
• Next, in Treta Yuga, Jaya was born as King Raavana (The One who Makes All Cry Out in Pain), and Vijaya was born as his brother, Kumbhakarna (The One with Large Ears). Their end was caused by the seventh Incarnation of Vishnu, King Rama.
• Lastly, in Dwaapar Yuga, Jaya was born as Sishupaala (The Protector of Child), and Vijaya was born as his cousin Dantavakra (The One with Crooked Teeth). Both their lives were ended by another cousin of theirs, Lord Krishna, who incidentally was the eighth (or was it ninth) Incarnation of Vishnu.

In the last Yuga of the Chatur-Yuga Cycle, the Kali Yuga, the two gate-keepers are now back in Vaikuntha, and all we have is their representations on a few temple carvings, and the stories of their incarnations. Let’s discuss these stories in later posts.