Dr. Jai Maharaj
2015-06-30 20:50:02 UTC
KRISHNA'S YOGAMAYA
Chroniclers depict Lord Krishna as always resorting to
Yogamaya, such as lifting the Govardhan mountain, says
Dr Asha Goswami
By Dr. Asha Goswami
Agenda
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Sunday, June 14, 2015
The name Krishna signifying multiple significations --
all pervasiveness, all active, and the highest pleasure --
is assigned to a divine personae who was equipped with
multi-dimensional facets and represented grand figure of
perfection in the form of fullest revelation of God who
permeates all with his ultimate spiritual reality.
According to the Mahabharata, 'They call Krishna, the
protector of Arjuna as Vishnu himself, who endowed with
conch, disc, club, is clad in yellow silken raiment'.
The chroniclers depict Krishna as always resorting to
his Yogamaya (or Maya) while revealing his super
eminence in the form of his magnanimous leelas, such as
as a child revelation of his cosmic form to his foster
mother by opening his mouth, and later to Arjuna while
reciting Gita in the battlefield, or lifting up
Govardhan mountain, enacting his sportive raasa with
Radha and the gopis, saving the Pandavas on many
precarious occasions during the war, and saving Draupadi
from Dushasana's evil intentions of disrobing her.
Hence, there no exaggeration in declaring Yogamaya as
the monopoly of Shri Krishna, and during his leelas
representing his miracle working inherent power.
Proceeding further unravelling the true significations
of the notion of Yogamaya, it be emphasised at the
outset that the Krishnaite scriptures mostly deal with
this notion in the context of Maya only. Bhagavad Gita
provides ample clue to ascertain its implications.
Firstly, it is stated that the Lord undergoes his
regular appearances as avataras in the world through
Yogamaya: 'Mayaya sambhavaami'. Next, the Gita holds
Yogamaya as parallel with Lord's infinite mystic power
or the divine yoga as he himself says 'veiled by
Yogamaya (the combination of three qualities sattva,
rajas, and tamas) I am not manifest to all; it is the
same inherent nature which makes me capable of
manifesting in this world; bringing forth and supporting
all the beings'.
This Gita ideology on Yogamaya runs parallel in the
Upanishads too when it is stated that 'through Maya, the
God appears manifold'. The Gita further identifies
Yogamaya with the inscrutable energy of the Lord through
which he transforms a part of himself into the worldly
beings. According to the Mahabharata, Yogamaya was
created by the Lord himself as his prompter and helper
and who even brought about his manifestations or
avataras, as is said 'Maya hyesha mayaa srishta yanmaam
pashyasi narada'.
While the Harivamsha, which is the blueprint of the
Mahabharata, confers Yogamaya with the title of
Yoganidra and identifies her with the girl who was
exchanged with Krishna and thus proved his saviour, as
in his place she was dashed to the stone by Kamsa, but
unaffected raised as a divine figure. Here reference be
made to a temple dedicated to this very deified power of
Shri Krishna, which is situated near Mehrauli.
While dealing with the Gopi element the Bhagavatapurana
projects, the dual concept of Yogamaya are seen --
wherein both the forms of Yogamaya are distinct from
each other. In one form, she represents the deluding
power (illusory veil) of the Lord, which screens
(gopaayati iti gopi) all his divine activities from the
mortal view and thus acting as the screening veil,
Yogamaya assumes the form of Gopi, who represents the
higher phase of Lord's power since she protects him.
While in the other form, she represents the Yogashakti
of the Lord, which prompts him in his infinite and
concentrated (nitya anitya leelas) activities.
The same source further elaborating this notion
maintains that with the help of Yogamaya, the Lord
created the world, manifested himself as Shri Krishna
along with the gopis and the great time. In this
context, Yogamaya be treated as synonymous with his
leela, which is nonetheless his power which induces the
Lord to become many in order to accomplish world process
in the spirit of leela -- the act which he undertakes
for his own pleasure.
Etymologically viewed, Yogamaya is a composite term and
made up of two words 'yoga' and 'maya', with the
implications of bringing forth through the screening
power, which is deemed as Lord's infinite mystic power
which has accrued from the organic unity of the mind and
the other organs, since this power is consequent upon
Lord's yoga (Yoge maya or yogasya maya).
This term be also derived from the Sanskrit root maa
meaning to lay out a plan of building, or to produce or
shape an illusionary Image, which in case of Shri
Krishna may suggest his inherent power to assume varied
forms to display his subtle essence, as he himself is
held to be the production of the greater maya and hence
a maya manushya, who is seemingly a man but essentially
an incognito being, an epiphany of the unfathomable
divine in a mortal frame.
Yogamaya is also one and the same Shri Shakti of Shri
Krishna, which forms one of the six constituents of his
Bhagavan-status and represents the supreme potency of
the Lord endowed with which he performs both the roles
that of being the efficient as well as the material
cause of the universe. In this form, Yogamaya acts as
divine mother of all the beings.
While concluding in terms of the Vaishnava Theology,
Shri Krishna's Yogayama is one of his supra powers like
samvit, sat, samadhini, and ananda, which makes him plan
and organise things beyond the powers of mankind and
endowed with which he becomes what he really is not and
does whatsoever he is not expected to. No wonder, he is
acclaimed most befittingly as the Yogayogeshwara.
- The writer is a noted Indologist and an authority on
Krishnaite studies
News from idealmedia.com
http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/agenda/spirituality/krishnas-yogamaya.html
More at:
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
Chroniclers depict Lord Krishna as always resorting to
Yogamaya, such as lifting the Govardhan mountain, says
Dr Asha Goswami
By Dr. Asha Goswami
Agenda
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Sunday, June 14, 2015
The name Krishna signifying multiple significations --
all pervasiveness, all active, and the highest pleasure --
is assigned to a divine personae who was equipped with
multi-dimensional facets and represented grand figure of
perfection in the form of fullest revelation of God who
permeates all with his ultimate spiritual reality.
According to the Mahabharata, 'They call Krishna, the
protector of Arjuna as Vishnu himself, who endowed with
conch, disc, club, is clad in yellow silken raiment'.
The chroniclers depict Krishna as always resorting to
his Yogamaya (or Maya) while revealing his super
eminence in the form of his magnanimous leelas, such as
as a child revelation of his cosmic form to his foster
mother by opening his mouth, and later to Arjuna while
reciting Gita in the battlefield, or lifting up
Govardhan mountain, enacting his sportive raasa with
Radha and the gopis, saving the Pandavas on many
precarious occasions during the war, and saving Draupadi
from Dushasana's evil intentions of disrobing her.
Hence, there no exaggeration in declaring Yogamaya as
the monopoly of Shri Krishna, and during his leelas
representing his miracle working inherent power.
Proceeding further unravelling the true significations
of the notion of Yogamaya, it be emphasised at the
outset that the Krishnaite scriptures mostly deal with
this notion in the context of Maya only. Bhagavad Gita
provides ample clue to ascertain its implications.
Firstly, it is stated that the Lord undergoes his
regular appearances as avataras in the world through
Yogamaya: 'Mayaya sambhavaami'. Next, the Gita holds
Yogamaya as parallel with Lord's infinite mystic power
or the divine yoga as he himself says 'veiled by
Yogamaya (the combination of three qualities sattva,
rajas, and tamas) I am not manifest to all; it is the
same inherent nature which makes me capable of
manifesting in this world; bringing forth and supporting
all the beings'.
This Gita ideology on Yogamaya runs parallel in the
Upanishads too when it is stated that 'through Maya, the
God appears manifold'. The Gita further identifies
Yogamaya with the inscrutable energy of the Lord through
which he transforms a part of himself into the worldly
beings. According to the Mahabharata, Yogamaya was
created by the Lord himself as his prompter and helper
and who even brought about his manifestations or
avataras, as is said 'Maya hyesha mayaa srishta yanmaam
pashyasi narada'.
While the Harivamsha, which is the blueprint of the
Mahabharata, confers Yogamaya with the title of
Yoganidra and identifies her with the girl who was
exchanged with Krishna and thus proved his saviour, as
in his place she was dashed to the stone by Kamsa, but
unaffected raised as a divine figure. Here reference be
made to a temple dedicated to this very deified power of
Shri Krishna, which is situated near Mehrauli.
While dealing with the Gopi element the Bhagavatapurana
projects, the dual concept of Yogamaya are seen --
wherein both the forms of Yogamaya are distinct from
each other. In one form, she represents the deluding
power (illusory veil) of the Lord, which screens
(gopaayati iti gopi) all his divine activities from the
mortal view and thus acting as the screening veil,
Yogamaya assumes the form of Gopi, who represents the
higher phase of Lord's power since she protects him.
While in the other form, she represents the Yogashakti
of the Lord, which prompts him in his infinite and
concentrated (nitya anitya leelas) activities.
The same source further elaborating this notion
maintains that with the help of Yogamaya, the Lord
created the world, manifested himself as Shri Krishna
along with the gopis and the great time. In this
context, Yogamaya be treated as synonymous with his
leela, which is nonetheless his power which induces the
Lord to become many in order to accomplish world process
in the spirit of leela -- the act which he undertakes
for his own pleasure.
Etymologically viewed, Yogamaya is a composite term and
made up of two words 'yoga' and 'maya', with the
implications of bringing forth through the screening
power, which is deemed as Lord's infinite mystic power
which has accrued from the organic unity of the mind and
the other organs, since this power is consequent upon
Lord's yoga (Yoge maya or yogasya maya).
This term be also derived from the Sanskrit root maa
meaning to lay out a plan of building, or to produce or
shape an illusionary Image, which in case of Shri
Krishna may suggest his inherent power to assume varied
forms to display his subtle essence, as he himself is
held to be the production of the greater maya and hence
a maya manushya, who is seemingly a man but essentially
an incognito being, an epiphany of the unfathomable
divine in a mortal frame.
Yogamaya is also one and the same Shri Shakti of Shri
Krishna, which forms one of the six constituents of his
Bhagavan-status and represents the supreme potency of
the Lord endowed with which he performs both the roles
that of being the efficient as well as the material
cause of the universe. In this form, Yogamaya acts as
divine mother of all the beings.
While concluding in terms of the Vaishnava Theology,
Shri Krishna's Yogayama is one of his supra powers like
samvit, sat, samadhini, and ananda, which makes him plan
and organise things beyond the powers of mankind and
endowed with which he becomes what he really is not and
does whatsoever he is not expected to. No wonder, he is
acclaimed most befittingly as the Yogayogeshwara.
- The writer is a noted Indologist and an authority on
Krishnaite studies
News from idealmedia.com
http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/agenda/spirituality/krishnas-yogamaya.html
More at:
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.