977. Mercury, Jupiter and Moon......!

A few weeks back I had posted on the Navagraha Mantra which as young kid I used to chant them without knowing the meaning and later on it was the curiosity in me which made me comprehend the meaning of those Sanskrit words in the mantra. 

While discussion about the Navagrahas with one of my friend I mentioned that Mercury was born to Moon and the wife of Jupiter. My friend was astonished at the way our Puranas and scriptures have personified the planets. It seemed to be ridiculous to think so. How could this be possible???   

As per the story from Puranas, Brihaspati (Jupiter) the Deva Guru is married to Tara. Brihaspati was oldman and Tara was young and beautiful lady. Brihaspati was always busy guiding Devas and had little time to spare with Tara. At night when she was alone she used to observe the waxing Moon. The day she found the Moon in full galore, she fell in love with him and eloped with him. Their union bore a son Budha (Mercury).

Now, when Brihaspati found out about the birth of Budha, he wanted his Tara back. He and Chandra had a tussle and finally all the Devas requested Tara to get back to her husband Brihaspati. So, Tara returned back to her husband. 

This is the story. 

Superficially this story may seem to be silly and funny, but when we look into the subtlety in it there is a beautiful message in it. Let us find out what it is.....

Brihaspati is Guru, the master of Devas. That is the Self. We know Moon is manokaraka and hence it is Mind. Tara who is young and beautiful is the Universe. 

Prior the Self as a child from the innocent level is connected with the Universe. Just like how a child plays with its toys without the sense of “mine”. That innocence of the Self is the one with the infinity till the Mind grows over the time to become larger than Self. 

As the Mind grew to full extent the connection between the Self and the Universe began to diminish and ultimately it was cut off. Soon the connection between the Mind and the Universe developed. 

This relationship resulted in the expansion of Cosmos and then there was the birth of Awareness. Budha (Mercury) is Pragyakaraka, the one who bestows awareness. Hence the union of Mind and Universe went to that extent of getting Awareness.

With the birth of Awareness the Universe again got back to the Self and the Mind was disconnected. The Mind became a No-mind and got detached with Universe. It does not matter if Universe got detached from Mind or Mind got detached from the Universe. Ultimately the Mind and Universe got separated because of the birth of Awareness. Now the Universe stayed with the Self to which it truly belonged. 

Astrology says that Buddhi (Mercury) is born out of Mind (Moon) when in association with Universe (Tara).