Madhu Kaitabha Story

Today, we will be looking at the symbolism of the Madhu-Kaitabha story.
You must be familiar with this story.
At the time of creation, Bhagavan Mahavishunu was asleep, in yoga nidra.
At that time a lotus came out of his navel.
On that lotus, creator Brahma was sitting.
He was about to start creation.
At that time, two Asuras, Madhu, and Kaitabha were born from the earwax of Vishnu.
They wanted to kill Brahma.
Brahma turned to Vishnu for help.
But he was fast asleep under the influence of Yoganidra Devi.
Brahma prayed to Devi.
Asked her to come out of Vishnu's body.
Vishnu woke up.
Fought with the Asuras for thousands of years.
Then with the help of Devi tricked them into getting killed by Vishnu.
This is the gist of the story.
Now, we will look into the following questions.
Who is Lord Mahavishnu?
Who is Brahma?
Who are Madhu and Kaitabha?
Why did they want to kill Brahma?
Why did Vishnu destroy them?
First of all-
What is this world?
It is made up of so many objects, living and nonliving.
Also so many forces, energies, thoughts, and emotions.
Thoughts and emotions are energies at the mental level.
Anger is an emotion.
But you can feel the energy all over your body.
Emotions and thoughts are also energies.
Every kind of energy is a vibration.
Even Science says that the world is nothing but vibrations.
Solids are dense vibrations, gasses are not so dense vibrations.
Who is Vishnu?
Paramatma.
At the time of creation, he divides himself into two.
Like how waves arise out of the sea.
He divides himself into the waves and the underlying sea.
Not two equal halves.
Only a tiny part of Vishnu becomes the world.
Like how waves are just a tiny part of the big ocean.
He is the foundation beneath every single object in this world.
And he is himself every single object in this world.
Like how the sea is under every single wave and waves are just made up of the water of the sea, not separate from it.
Waves don't have an independent existence.
Waves are just a small part of the sea itself.
The world is just a small part of Paramatma or Vishnu.
Vishnu lying on top of Adishesha represents this foundation aspect of the Lord.
The world as we see it is a creation of Brahma who sits on a small lotus coming out of his navel.
Brahma is a part of Vishnu only.
Like how we have a government.
In that government, there is a finance minister.
Given certain duties to be fulfilled.
But this minister doesn't have an independent existence.
He is part of the government only.
This Brahma is Shabdabrahma.
How do we know that?
Because the lotus is coming out of the navel of Vishnu.
The navel is the place of Pashyanti sound.
It is the second stage in the Para - Pashyanti - Madhyama - Vaikhari sequence.
Sound not yet particularized into ideas, thoughts, and words.
It is Brahma's duty to do that.
Using this sound he has to manifest the world.
This sound contains the natural vibrations of all the components of the world.
While he is Shabdabrahma or sound itself, it is easier to look at him as a person who has received this primordial sound and has to manifest the world with it.
What is the significance of the lotus?
You might have noticed.
In most of the paintings of Devatas, they are either sitting or standing on a lotus.
The six energy hubs of the body, the six chakras starting with Muladhara have got the shape of a lotus.
Only the number of petals varies.
Puranas say that the earth is of the shape of a lotus bud.
The surface of the earth is divided into four petals of a lotus.
Lotus is adhara shakti kamalam.
The universal foundation, seat, or adhara.
If Adishesha is at the foundation of the unmanifest, lotus is the foundation of the manifest.
What else is there with Brahma?
What is his vehicle?
A swan.
What is a swan called in Sanskrit?
Hamsa.
हंसहंसाय विद्महे परमहंसाय धीमहि तन्नो हंसः प्रचोदयात्
Hamsa mantra is called ajapa japa.
It is a japa that all of us are doing perpetually.
The breathing, roughly 21600 times in 24 hrs.
This is Hamsa mantra japa.
What is breathing?
Prana shakti.
So Brahma has got both the prana shakti, the base energy, and patterns in the form of the Veda with him.
These patterns are envelopes or molds into which he will fill prana shakti to create objects and beings.
So uptil here.
Bhagavan Vishnu decides to manifest the world.
He divides himself.
First creates Brahma.
Brahma is handed over both raw energy and patterns of vibrations with which he has to create objects and beings of the world.
As far as the physical world is concerned, Brahma is omnipotent and has to be omnipotent.
But then two Asuras come up.
They want to kill Brahma.
They want to restrict him.
Madhu and Kaitabha.
What are they?
Avarana shakti and Vikshepa shakti.
Avarana shakti covers up the truth that Aham Brahmasmi, I am myself Parabrahma, Paramatma.
Avarana shakti makes you think that you are different from the world around you.
Vikshepa shakti creates the illusions of the multitude of objects and beings in the world.
This is maya.
Covering up the real nature of yourself and presenting a false picture of the world.
Avarana and Vikshepa.
Madhu and Kaitabha.
But for the world to be there maya is essential.
That's why along with Brahma, they also came into existence.
They came out of the earwax of the Lord.
Earwax is karnamala, an impurity.
They are tamasik and rajasik.
They are impure.
But they are essential also.
The only problem is they tried to destroy or affect Brahma himself.
Maya should be built into what Brahma creates.
But maya should not affect Brahma.
Because it is Brahma who has to transform himself into the world.
It is his organs that become the world.
If Brahma comes under the influence of maya, then he will also have kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya, raga, dvesha everything.
The creator can not afford to have them.
A missile is being built in a factory.
But in the process, if the factory itself gets destroyed?
So Brahma should not be affected by maya, avarana shakti and vikshepa shakti, Madhu, and Kaitabha.
Only what he creates can be and should be affected by maya.
That's why Bhagavan killed Madhu and Kaitabha.
Of course with the help of Para shakti who is herself Mahamaya.
Such a profound concept, see how the Puranas have presented it to us in the form of a story.
I am not saying that these incidents did not happen for real.
That they are just stories made to teach us something.
No.
At the physical level, they would have happened.
But this is what they convey to us.
This is what we should learn from them.