Sankranti - The Transition..

[dattaswami]

Sankranti - The Transition

Northward and Southward Journeys

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Saṅkrānti is the transition of a person from worldly life to spiritual life. A person’s worldly life is represented by the sun’s southward journey (dakṣiṇāyanam), which, according to the Indian calendar, occurs in the six months from July 15^th to January 15^th. Likewise, a person’s spiritual life is represented by the sun’s northward journey (uttarāyaṇam) from January 15^th to July 15^th. It is said that if one dies during uttarāyaṇam, one will get salvation, otherwise, one will continue in the cycle of births and deaths. Ignorant people literally think that one can get salvation by dying during the six months when the sun travels northwards! This is not true since several great devotees died during the sun’s southward journey (dakṣiṇāyanam) and still perfectly got salvation. Attaining salvation or not, is related to whether one follows the spiritual path in life or the worldly path. It has nothing to do with the sun’s movement. The uttarāyaṇam and dakṣiṇāyanam periods only represent the spiritual and worldly paths, respectively. So, dying during uttarāyaṇam means dying while pursuing the spiritual path in life and not the worldly path. It means that, at least before death, one should enter into spiritual life. Bhīṣma, who had the boon of choosing the time of his death, is said to have waited until uttarāyaṇam to give up his life, so that he would get salvation. It was his misunderstanding of uttarāyaṇam and dakṣiṇāyanam in terms of time, rather than in terms of the spiritual and worldly paths in life. In fact, he always misunderstood even the worldly path of justice (pravṛtti), which is evident from his keeping silent when Draupadi was being insulted in the court and his supporting the unjust Kauravas in the war. He gave more importance to his blind promise that he would never oppose the king, than protecting justice. But in the last days of his life, as he lay on his deathbed, Krishna came to him. Bhīṣma died praying to Krishna with full concentration and got salvation. Ignorant people misunderstand that Bhīṣma got salvation because he died after January 15^th!

The Veda says that spiritual life and worldly life are far from each other; in fact, that they are opposite to each other, like north and south poles (Dūramete viparīte viśūcī). As the earth revolves around the sun, the sun appears to move northward in the sky for six months and southward for the remaining six months. The astronomical scriptures of Aryabhaṭṭa and Brahmagupta clearly reveal that it is the earth that goes around the sun and not vice-versa. These northward and southward journeys of the sun, being in mutually opposite directions, were taken as analogies to represent the spiritual and worldly paths, which too are mutually opposite.

Astrology and Astronomy

In Vedic astrology, the divisions of space and time are represented as a diagram in which the twelve zodiac signs are arranged in a square arrangement around the earth, covering 360°. Earth is assumed to be at the center of the square. The diagram can be clearly understood with the knowledge of astronomy. Each of the zodiac signs rises one after the other from the east and sets in the west, until all twelve are covered in 24 hours (360° rotation). The same 360° of the sky is also divided among 27 constellations (stars).

The sun occupies each zodiac sign for a month. It is result of the Earth revolving around the sun, while also rotating about its own axis. Due to the rotation of the earth about its own axis, it covers all the 12 zodiac signs in one full day. The time of the day is thus divided into twelve parts. In addition to this daily rotation, the earth also revolves around the sun in one year, due to which, the sun appears to be in each zodiac sign for one month. Similar to the sun, other planets also appear to pass through each of the zodiac signs, staying in each for definite intervals of time. In Vedic astrology, the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the two lunar nodes are all called planets (grahas). The two lunar nodes are said to be the shadow planets, Rāhu and Ketu.

In the astrological diagram, the space around the earth (the sky as seen from earth) is divided into two hemispheres: (1) The northern hemisphere starts from the zodiac sign Makara (Capricorn) and ends with the zodiac sign Mithuna (Gemini). It covers the north and east directions. (2) The southern hemisphere starts from the zodiac sign Karkāṭaka (Cancer) and ends with the zodiac sign Dhanu (Sagitarius). It covers the south and west directions. The northern hemisphere is ruled by the deities Kubera, Śiva, Indra and Agni. Kubera rules over the north direction, which includes the signs, Makara and Kumbha (Aquarius). These two signs are owned by Saturn (Śani). Śiva rules over the north-east, where the sign Mīna (Pisces) is placed. Mīna (Pisces) is owned by Jupiter (Bṛhaspati). Indra rules over the east, which consists of the signs, Meśa and Vṛṣabha. These two signs are owned by Mars (Mangal) and Venus (Śukra) repectively. Agni rules over the south-east, where the sign, Mithuna (Gemini) is plaed. Mithuna (Gemini) is owned by Mercury (Budha).

The southern hemisphere is ruled by the deities Yama, Nirṛtī, Varuṇa and Vāyu. Yama, the lord of death, rules the south, which includes Karkāṭaka (Cancer) and Siṃha (Leo). These two signs are owned by the moon (Chandra) and the sun (Sūrya) respectively. Nirṛtī, a female demon, rules over the south-west, where the sign Kanyā (Virgo) is placed. This sign owned by Mercury (Budha). Varuṇa, the lord of water and rain, rules over the west, which contain Tulā (Libra) and Vṛṣcika (Scorpio). These two signs are owned by Venus (Śukra) and Mars (Mangal), respectively. Finally, Vāyu rules the north-west containing Dhanu (Sagitarius), which is owned by Jupiter (Guru).

Thus, the sky as we see from earth, is divided into 12 zodiac signs from east to west and back to east (from below the earth). It is also divided into the 27 constellations (stars), such that 2 ¼ of a constellation is accommodated in each zodiac sign. Each of the nine planets is located in one of the zodiac signs and constellations at any given time and the planets move through the various zodiac signs and constellations at different rates. Uttarāyaṇam starts with the sun entering Makara (Capricorn) on January 15^th and staying there till February 15^th. Dakṣiṇāyanam starts with the sun entering Karkāṭaka (Cancer) on July 15^th and staying there till August, 15^th. This is the essential astronomical basis of astrology.

Astronomy is the science dealing with inert physical planets, stars and the zodiac signs, which are imaginary divisions made in the sky. Astrology is part of spiritual knowledge and it deals with the deities of the planets and stars. These deities of the planets are the executives of the cycle of deeds, which is part of the divine administration of God. They grant the fruits of the deeds of every soul to that particular soul. Mars in astronomy means an inert planet in the sky. Mars in astrology means the deity of planet Mars, who is an energetic being having some unimaginable powers. Those unimaginable powers of God have merged into the deity to enable the deity to perform its duties.

Some people confuse astronomy with astrology. Rāhu and Ketu are demons that swallowed the Sun-god and the Moon-god since they were angry with the latter two. Rāhu and Ketu were originally one demon of a snake-like form. He tried to cheat God by pretending to be a god (angel) in order to get a share of amṛtam, which is the drink of immortality. The Sun-god and the Moon-god informed this to God Viṣṇu who cut the demon into the two parts, Rāhu and Ketu. Since the demon had already become immortal, the two parts Rāhu and Ketu also remained immortal but they became enemies of the Sun-god and the Moon-god. The swallowing of the deities of Sun and Moon by Rāhu and Ketu is the actual eclipse (grahaṇa) mentioned in the scriptures. This eclipse is between the deities of the respective planets and not between the inert planets. The deities are energetic beings and cannot even been seen by us. The eclipse that we see is an astronomical phenomenon and not the astrological event. The astronomical phenomenon only symbolizes the astrological event.

On the day of an eclipse (astronomical), we are told to bathe and worship God to avoid the ill-effects of the eclipse. Such instructions are arthavādas; which means, they are lies that serve the beneficial purpose of developing devotion. There is no need to criticize them due to their benefit for beginners. With this explanation, both physical science and spiritual knowledge are not disturbed at all! The shadows of the moon and earth that fall on the sun and moon respectively during their physical eclipses, are considered to be Rāhu and Ketu, the shadow planets. This is only an analogy representing the actual event taking place between the deities of the planets in the upper world.

Dakṣiṇāyanam: Transition to Worldly Life

The word saṅkrānti is also used when the sun moves from Mithuna (Gemini) to Karkāṭaka (Cancer). Note that the movement of the sun through the 12 zodiac signs in one year is only an apparent movement. In reality, it is the earth that is rotating about its axis and also revolving around the sun. The apparent movement of the sun through the zodiac is the result of the superimposition of the earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun. Dakṣiṇāyanam begins when the sun transits from Mithuna (Gemini) to Karkāṭaka (Cancer). Mithuna (Gemini), is owned by Mercury and Karkāṭaka (Cancer) is owned by the moon. Mithuna, which is the last sign in uttarāyaṇam represents doing business with the help of God. It represents business-devotion, in which the person practically sacrifices something to God and expects something in return from God. The beginning of dakṣiṇāyanam (worldly life) with the sun’s transit into the sign of the moon (Karkāṭaka) represents a change in the attitude of the mind, since the moon represents the mind. The person starts to think that business should only be done for success, as per the plans of one’s own mind. One begins to feel that there is no need to depend on God. Hence, the soul feels that business-devotion, which involves faith in God, is not better than purely materialistic business. This transition is the transition from theism to atheism. After Karkāṭaka (Cancer), the sun moves into Siṃha (Leo), which is owned by the sun. The sun stands for intelligence. The sun’s transit into Siṃha (Leo) represents the development of the analytical knowledge of science, which involves only creation and not the Creator. Next, the sun moves into Kanyā (Virgo), which is owned by Mercury. Mercury represents business. This transit indicates unethical business done with a desire for profit alone. The transit into the next sign Tulā (Libra), which is owned by Venus, indicates unethical and illegitimate sexual affairs. The transit into Vṛścika (Scorpio), which is owned by Mars, stands for fighting for unjust gains. The next is Dhanu, which is owned by Jupiter. It represents performing rituals for one’s own benefit. These rituals are not based on devotion to God, but are based on the doctrine of action or karma (Pūrva Mīmāṃsā). Thus, the worldly path of dakṣiṇāyanam extends from Karkāṭaka (Cancer) to Dhanu (Sagitarius) while the spiritual path of uttarāyaṇam extends from Makara (Capricorn) to Mithuna (Gemini).

Uttarāyanam: Transition to Spiritual Life

Today on 15^th January, the day of Makara Saṅkrānti, the sun transits from Dhanu (Sagitarius) to Makara (Capricorn). This transit also marks the transition from the cool winter to the hot summer. The coolness of the winter represents the happiness and convenience of worldly life, whereas, the heat of the summer represents the misery and inconvenience of spiritual life. Makara Saṅkrānti represents the transition from worldly life to spiritual life, in this sense too. The path to hell is full of roses, whereas, the path to heaven and God is full of thorns. The transition represents the transition into the sunlight of knowledge that gives strength and removes the darkness of ignorance. The lord of Dhanu (Sagitarius) is Jupiter (Guru) and the lord of Makara (Capricorn) is Saturn (Śani). Jupiter is related to religious rituals done for the sake of benefits. Saturn is the lord of spiritual knowledge (jñāna kāraka). Makara Saṅkrānti is thus a transition from the path of worldly rituals (pravṛtti) to the spiritual path (nivṛtti). Jupiter also represents justice, which means that the soul has reached such a stage in pravṛtti (worldly path of justice) that it completely avoids committing sins and instead, does good deeds. This stage is attained by the recognition of the existence of the unimaginable God, who rewards good deeds and punishes bad deeds. This is the original Pūrva Mīmāṃsā philosophy, as given by sage Jaimini, which accepted God, in this manner.

Saturn, the lord of Makara (Capricorn) stands for acquiring the detailed spiritual knowledge about God. The following zodiac sign is Kumbha (Aquarius), which is also owned by Saturn. This continuity of the same lord for adjacent zodiac signs is not found among any of the other signs. It means that the analysis of spiritual knowledge must be always continuous. From this day (January 15^th), the next six months of uttarāyaṇam are treated to be very precious and holy. People say that the ritual of upanayanam must be done only within this uttarāyanam period. Actually, upanayanam means coming close to God. In this essential sense, any time is holy. The next zodiac sign in this holy hemisphere of uttarāyaṇam, is Mīna (Pisces). It is located in the north-east corner, which is the place of God Śiva. God Śiva is said to be the deity of spiritual knowledge (Jñānaṃ Maheśvarāt...). The owner of Mīna (Pisces) is also Jupiter, the deity of justice (dharma kāraka). It indicates that you have to work for the welfare of the world, even while following the spiritual path of nivṛtti. You have to preach to people about following the path of worldly justice or pravṛtti. The next sign is Meṣa (Aries) owned by Mars (Maṅgal). Mars being the deity of battle, represents fighting. Meṣa (Aries) represents the fighting and conflicts done for the sake of justice. The next sign, Vṛṣabha (Taurus) owned by Venus represents legitimate sexual life, which is necessary for continuing the human race, in the service of God. The last sign in the holy hemisphere of uttarāyaṇam is Mithuna (Gemini) owned by Mercury. It represents business-devotion to God, as explained earlier. This inferior stage of devotion need not be criticized since it is inevitable in the beginning. It has the advantage that it, at least, accepts the existence of God.

Good and Bad Angles of Qualities and Actions

All qualities and actions have two angles—pravṛtti (dakṣiṇāyanam) and nivṛtti (uttarāyaṇam). Knowledge can be worldly as well as spiritual. Rituals can be done for the sake of one’s own benefit or for worshiping God without the aspiration for any fruit. Fighting can be for justice as well as for injustice. Sex can be illegitimate or legitimate. Business can be unethical as well as ethical. Souls, depending on their nature, will choose one or the other angle. The planets in the horoscope of a person only represent the existing nature of the soul. They do not cause the soul to have a certain nature. Clever people reverse this and say that they committed the sin due to the influence of a bad planet. The truth is that the planet only represented the sin done by the soul. Upanayanam and Gāyatrī mean becoming close to God by singing devotional songs. In this true sense, upanayanam can be done at any time.

Representative Models

Representative models only indicate concepts. As such, the model and the actual concept are not physically related in any way. The three-coloured national flag of India represents the country, India. There is not the slightest physical relationship between the flag and the country. In the flag, the upper red colour indicates the quality of rajas (creation). The middle white colour indicates sattvam (ruling) and the lower green colour indicates tamas (destruction). The three colors represent the three fundamental qualities found predominantly in Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva respectively. The three colors representing three qualities indicate a living being from among the public. But the flag-staff (pole), the cloth and the colors, of the flag, by themselves are non-living items. This means that the model only represents the concept and has nothing to do with the concept, in reality.

Once, in a speech, Shri Satya Sai said “This is My finger and that is a flower. With the help of My finger pointing towards the flower, you should see the flower. Once you have seen the flower, the finger is not necessary”. This does not mean that the finger should be cut off once you have seen the flower! You should still respect the finger since it helped you in seeing the flower. If the finger continues to exist, it will also help others in seeing the flower. Before you saw the flower, the finger was essential for you too. Similarly, in the initial stage, the model is essential to realize the concept. Even in the advanced stage, after realizing the concept, you should be grateful and respect the model that helped you. The same model will also help others in the future. This is the reason why everybody salutes to and respects the national flag.

Hence, in the beginning, statues and images of God are essential to understand the existence of the unimaginable God. Once the unimaginable God is understood and realized by identifying the contemporary Human Incarnation, the statues and images are not necessary for the realized devotee. But even the realized devotee must be grateful to the statues and images, which have helped him and which continue to help others who are in that initial stage. The human form of the statue indicates that the God to be sought by you is the contemporary Human Incarnation of God. The common human form of the statue and the Human Incarnation of God indicates this. Even a realized soul worships statues and images due to his gratitude and to become an example for other devotees who are beginners (Lokasaṅgrahamevāpi...—Gita). Representative models are only meant for beginners and not for advanced scholars in spiritual knowledge. The rigid religious traditions succeed in the case of an ignorant beginner, but they fail to bind a true scholar. To explain this Śaṅkara gave the example of a knife, which can be used to cut vegetables, but it fails to cut a stone (Śilāprayukta kṣurādivat...)!

Any statue or image is made of some material consisting of both inert energy and inert matter. But it lacks the non-inert awareness. So, priests perform the ritual of life-initiation (prāṇa pratiṣṭhā) on the statues in temples. The life-initiation ritual is also performed for images and statues worshipped by people in their homes. In spite of that, no life appears in those inert objects! This means that the life-initiation ritual is not meant to make an inert statue alive, but that it is a model representing the concept that one should worship the living human form of God, which is the contemporary Human Incarnation. It means that the object of worship should contain inert matter, inert energy and non-inert awareness. But we know that: 

Inert matter + inert energy + non-inert awareness = human being Thus, the ritual provides the correct address of God, which is in the human being. It refers to the external medium in which God has entered and merged. The living human medium consists of matter, energy and awareness. When the unimaginable God enters one such chosen living human medium and merges with it, that human being becomes the Human Incarnation. The unimaginable God has already entered and merged with an energetic form in the upper world. This first Energetic Incarnation of God is called Datta or Īśvara. This Datta further enters and merges with the living human medium to become a Human Incarnation. The life-initiation ritual indicates to the devotees that they must seek and worship this living Human Incarnation of God and not mere images made of inert matter and inert energy. Instead of giving value to inert matter and energy, one must transition to valuing the non-inert awareness in human beings. Finally, one should transition from valuing ordinary human beings to searching and worshipping the Human Incarnation of God. This is real transition or saṅkrānti.

Good, Bad and Meaningless Traditions

The real saṅkrānti means leaving bad traditions and following good traditions. Certain traditions, although essentially meaningless, can still be followed since they are meant for encouraging beginners. There are three types of traditions: (1) The good traditions established by ancient sages, which are followed by realized souls. (2) Meaningless traditions, also established by the sages, for the sake of encouraging and teaching beginners. These traditions too are followed by realized souls out of gratitude and for the sake of others. (3) Bad traditions established by ignorant priests, in later times.

A good tradition is performing every ritual with the knowledge of the internal meanings of the Vedic hymns. It improves one’s spiritual knowledge and devotion to God. For instance, the internal meaning of upanayanam is getting close to God and Gāyatrī means pleasing God through devotional songs. Real sacrifice (yajña or homa) means pacifying the hunger-fire of a human being, bird or animal, by offering food. Veda adhyayana means knowing the deep meanings of the Vedic hymns.

A bad tradition is doing a ritual blindly, without understanding its background and without even knowing the meanings of the Vedic hymns, as is commonly done by many people. The real meaning of upanayanam is not putting a three-stranded thread over the shoulder of a child and initiating the child into the recitation of a particular Vedic hymn written in the Gāyatrī meter. Sacrifice does not mean burning ghee in the physical fire and wasting precious food items like milk, in the name of worship, while several hungry living beings die every day. God will be immensely pleased if hungry souls are fed, since they are all His children. The Veda says that even a trace of food should not be wasted, even in the name of worship (Annaṃ na paricakṣīta). Ignorant priests worshipping the Divine Mother burn a silk sari in the sacrificial fire on the final day of pūrṇāhuti. The Divine Mother will actually be greatly pleased if the same sari is given to a poor lady.

A meaningless tradition is that which is basically false, but it is meant for developing the devotion of a beginner. It is not meant for a scholar. Scholars still follow such traditions to maintain the faith of the beginners. The annual ritual performed on the death anniversary of a departed soul is a good tradition because, in that ritual, a deserving person is fed and honoured by offering money and clothes in donation. This is meritorious action (puṇyam) that protects the departed soul as well as the performer. But this ritual can be done on any day. There is no need to do it only on the death anniversary. But sages created certain lies (arthavāda), such as the idea that feeding a deserving priest on the death anniversary of the departed relative is necessary to ensure that the departed soul gets food in the upper world. This false idea is introduced only to ensure that even greedy people perform this ritual involving sacrifice (donation), at least on the death anniversary of their departed relatives. Actually, the departed soul is present in an energetic body in the upper world, after the death of the physical body on earth. In the energetic body, it consumes energy directly as food. But the false idea of food for the departed relatives was created so that ignorant greedy people, out of the fear that their departed relatives will starve in the upper world, will certainly perform this ritual on the death anniversary. That way, they will perform at least some meritorious action and get an opportunity of gaining at least some knowledge from the learned priest performing the ritual for them. Without this false idea, those greedy people would never have done any meritorious action or learned any spiritual knowledge. A true scholar knows the truth of the matter, but he still performs the ritual for the welfare of such greedy persons! A scholar will not condemn a mother feeding her child by telling the false story that the moon will come down to the child, if the child finishes the food quickly. The scholar supports such a lie in the interest of the child and probably tells the same lie to his own child!

Purpose of Festivals and Rituals

The purpose of festivals that involve the worship of God is to inculcate devotion among ordinary souls. The festivals are celebrated at specific times and at holy places or other specific places and they are meant for the welfare of ordinary souls. A true scholar worships God at all times and in every place. Such a scholar is said to be in the state of mahāvratam as described by sage Patañjali, which is being beyond the constraints of place and time. For ordinary souls, certain arthavādas (beneficial lies) are essential to attract their ignorant minds. The truth of the arthavādas should not be revealed to them, since it can damage their faith. True scholars follow these arthavādas in the interest of the beginners. But if a true scholar (jñānī) violates these arthavādas occasionally, due to special circumstances, ignorant priests should not blame that true scholar. For example, a renounced saint (saṃnyāsī) should not perform the death rituals of his parents because he has crossed all worldly bonds and he also knows that the death ritual is only a prayer to God to protect the departed soul. Śankara, who was also a saint, wanted to perform the death rituals for His mother, as per her last wish. But the ignorant priests strongly objected to it and refused to even give Him fire to perform the ritual. The reality was that the mother of Śaṅkara had already reached the abode of God directly. There was no need of any ritual for her. In any case, the ritual is only to cremate the body and it has no effect on the soul. In anyway of cremation like burning, burying, drowning in water etc., the five elements of the dead body merge with the five cosmic gross elements only. There is also a tradition to leave the dead body in forest as food for birds and animals and in this way also the five elements of the dead body merge with the five cosmic gross elements only! When the priests refused to give Him fire for the cremation, Śaṅkara, being the Incarnation of God Śiva, burnt the body with the fire generated from His third eye!

In the case of Śaṅkara, the special situation was that His mother had made Him promise before she permitted Him to accept sainthood, that He would perform her funeral ritual. Śaṅkara did not want to avoid sainthood and become a householder, just to be allowed to perform His mother’s funeral rites. He had incarnated on earth to propagate spiritual knowledge as a saint. In the view of the importance of His divine program, He decided to become a saint and still perform the funeral rites, contrary to tradition. He promised her the same. Even an ordinary human being should not break a promise given to another human being, let alone breaking a promise given to one’s own mother. Hence, He performed her funeral ritual. It was not an actual breaking of tradition because any ritual is only a prayer to God to protect the departed soul and anybody can do it, even for an unknown person.

The Gita says that knowing the background-knowledge behind a traditional ritual is more important than following it blindly (Śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsāt). Further, the Gita says that focusing one’s attention on spiritual knowledge which leads to devotion for God is more important than the mere background-knowledge of a ritual. This is because, the essential purpose of any ritual is only improving the person’s spiritual knowledge and devotion to God (Jñānāt dhyānaṃ viśiṣyate). At the end, the Gita says that service accompanied with the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s hard work (donation) is more important than both the theoretical knowledge and the theoretical devotion. The practical step of service and sacrifice is the final full stop (Dhyānāt karmaphala tyāgaḥ, tyāgāt śāntiranantaram). The word ‘śānti’ used here, means a full stop, beyond which nothing remains to be said.