32 - Microvitum in a Nutshell

Microvitum in a Nutshell [a compilation]

Chapter 14

Disembodied Souls and Microvita
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Excerpt B

Gandhayakśinii. It is said that so-called pretayonis are of seven types, but in fact they are the seven varieties of negative microvita. Not all the seven varieties of pretayonis are carried by the smell inference. Gandhayakśinii refers to the pisháca variety of pretayoni which are carried by the smell inference. Although there are seven varieties of pretayonis – that is, negative microvita – there may be some other pretayonis besides these. Similarly, there are seven varieties of devayonis – that is, positive microvita – and besides these there may also be other varieties of positive microvita. The seven varieties of devayoni are yakśa, kinnara, gandharva, vidyádhara, prakrtiliina, videhaliina and siddha.

Those who were decent human beings and deeply spiritual, and used to collect money for a noble cause, but in the process of fund raising forgot Parama Puruśa and attached greater importance to their fund raising at the cost of Parama Puruśa – that is, they remembered Parama Puruśa as part of dharma sádhaná and collected money for a great cause, and although Parama Puruśa was the goal collecting money became the dominant desire – attain the state of yakśa devayoni after their demise. In feminine gender, yakśa becomes yakśinii. Although yakśinii sádhaná is a part of Avidyá Tantra, the yakśinii itself is an an entity between vidyá and avidyá because the person’s mind in whom yakśinii tendencies or positive microvita come was not a bad person. So gandhayakśinii refers to that type of microvita which does not come within the scope of positive or negative microvita. As there was a predominant sentiment for dharma in such entities, they are positive microvita, and later as the dominant spiritual sentiment became secondary, they are negative microvita.

This sort of positive microvita exerts greater influence on the mind than on the body. They cannot exert their influence when the human mind remains spiritually elevated, but as soon as the mind descends, their influence starts. These microvita do not divert the mind from the path of dharma, but they do not allow the human mind to accept dharma as the dominant propensity. They advise human beings, “Practice dharma sádhaná as and where you are. Continue it in perfect adjustment with everything.” That is, they advise a kind of selfish adjustment.

This sort of negative microvita have both a positive and negative influence on the body, but not a destructive influence. For easy understanding, we may use the term “intermediate microvita” instead of the terms positive microvita or negative microvita. Of these intermediary microvita, which are of the nature of yakśas – that is, who did not forget Parama Puruśa, but who wrongly attached greater importance to amassing wealth and accept the smell inferences as their media in the disembodied state – are called “gandha-yakśinii”. By careful research it will be found that they travel through many special types of smell.

Suppose Shyam Babu was about to set out for Calcutta from Burdwan on urgent business, and the purpose of his trip was good. But when he was about to depart from his house, he suddenly developed an acute pain in the abdomen, so he could not leave at the appointed time. After a while, he arrived at the station to catch the next train. At the station, he learnt that the train he was supposed to have taken had met with an accident at Mogra station. As his journey was delayed his work was no doubt inconvenienced, but his life was saved. This was the work of gandhayakśinii.

It may also have happen that Shyam Babu arrived late at Burdwan. He naturally thought that his work would be delayed because as the next train would come much later, he would be late in reaching Calcutta. Meanwhile, the scheduled train arrived. As there was no departure signal at Khona Junction, it was late in reaching Burdwan. This was also the work of gandhayakśinii.

In fact, yakśinii is not a goddess or any particular entity, but an intermediary microvita which is partly positive and partly negative.

Gandharukmińii. Let us discuss Rukmińii. Rukmińii was Krśńa’s wife. She was the daughter of the King of Arunacala. In the British period, Arunacala was known as N.E.F.A. – North Eastern Frontier Agency. During the rule of the Ahom Dynasty, it was part of Assam and Kamrup state and its old name was Balirpara. Even in the early part of British rule, the old name was retained. Now, Rukmińii had an irresistible spiritual urge. She took an unusual interest in propagating spirituality and helping unfold the spiritual potential of human beings. When ordinary people came in her contact, they felt a tremendous change in themselves, and automatically became more spiritual than before.

The positive microvita which are carried through the smell inference try to forcibly take the human mind from ordinary mundane consciousness to the spiritual world, and as a result people notice a sudden change in themselves. They develop a feeling of non-attachment to worldly enjoyments. Their minds rush towards rtambhará tatra prajiṋá or the underlying omniscient faculty, and they develop a tremendous inner urge for spirituality. Nimái Pandit (later known as Chaetanya Maháprabhu), who was full of intellectual pride and would debate with the greatest scholars of the age just to defeat them, was suddenly attacked by an invisible power and was completely transformed. He gave up all his worldly bondages and set out in quest of the truth. The force, the positive microvita, which finally brought him from Navadwip to Katowa, the confluence of the Bhágrathi and the Ajay rivers, was nothing by gandarukmińii.

Gandharva. Positive microvita are divided into seven main categories, but there are positive microvita beyond these seven categories. These seven categories are as follows – kinnara, vidyádhara, yakśa, prakrtiliina, videhaliina, siddha and gandharva. Just as pretayonis are divided into seven categories, devayonis are also divided into seven categories, as just mentioned. Similarly, just as there are seven lokas in the ascending order – Bhú, Bhuvah, Svah, Maha, Jana, Tapah and Satya – there are seven lokas in descending order – Bhú, Tala, Atala, Talátala, Pátála, Atipátála and Rasátala.

Kinnara. How handsome, how beautiful, how sweet! Is it a human being or some other entity? Kinnara is equal to “kinnarh”. In North India, in the present state of Himalchal, there is a region called “Kinnara”. There is some Mongolian influence amongst the people, and the inhabitants of that region are very handsome. In the past, they were called “Kinnara” and the region was called “Kinnaradesha”. The ancient name of Tibet was “Kiḿpuruśavarśa”. One meaning of “varśa” is “land” or “country”. For instance, Bháratavarśa means “the land of Bhárata”. The inhabitants of Tibet have very little hair on their bodies, so it is often difficult to distinguish between males and females, just as it is difficult to distinguish between males and females in Bhutan. Hence, in ancient Tibet, people would wonder if a person was a male. In Saḿskrta the land was called “Kiḿpuruśavarśa”.

The word “devayoni” means “an entity which has a number of divine qualities”. That is to say, devayonis are positive microvita. Though siddhas are elevated human beings, those who have some aesthetic attraction for physical objects like money, ornaments, etc., become kinnaras after their demise. As spiritual aspirants they are elevated to some extent, and as human beings they are decent, but they prayed to Parama Puruśa for beauty instead of for Parama Puruśa Himself. Such people, after their demise, attain the status of kinnara devayonis. They will not hurt anyone; they are completely devoid of the instinct of harming others. Ancient people used to pray to kinnaras for guidance in the art of beautification and decoration. The science of cosmetics was once known as “kinnaravidyá”. In olden times, very handsome men were called “kinnaras” and very beautiful dancers were honoured as “kinnaris”. So, this type of positive microvita represent the psychology of beautification. All theatrical knowledge regarding cosmetics and aesthetics, and the art of beautification or aesthetic taste, came within the scope of kinnaravidyá.

Vidyádhara. The disembodied souls of those who were good people and elevated spiritualists, but who gave more importance to intellectual attainment instead of trying to realize Parama Puruśa, attain the status of vidyádhara. Maybe vidyádharas are slightly more developed then kinnaras, but they also will not attain Parama Puruśa. After their accumulated reactive momenta are exhausted, they will have to reincarnate as living entities. Vidyádharas may or may not have external physical beauty, but they certainly possess mental beauty.

Incidentally, let me tell you that devayonis are composed of three fundamental factors – ethereal, aerial and luminous. The solid and liquid factors are left on the earth after the death of the physical body. Perhaps you know that mental beauty exercises some degree of influence on the human body. A woman who is unattractive but is mentally elevated or has a loving nature will look beautiful to others. You must have heard that to a child, the most beautiful woman in the world is his or her mother. Vidyádharas also have a kind of beauty due to their inherent intellectual faculty. Vidyádhara microvita assist those who seek intellectual attainment. As vidyádharas are devayonis, they do not harm anybody. They are a type of positive microvita.

In one of my short stories I narrated the following experience. When I was a boy, the day before one of my examinations commenced, I was studying alone past midnight in my room on the third floor of our house. There were two rooms on the floor, covered by a roof. The staircase from the second floor to the third floor was closed with a gate so that thieves could not climb up to the fourth floor, so I was separated from the other members of the household. Suddenly, a peculiar sound came simultaneously from all the four corners of the room, “Learn such and such lines from such and such poem by heart.” I did accordingly. When I sat for the examination, I discovered to my utter amazement that a question concerned with the same lines of the poem appeared in the examination paper. But, however good these vidyádharas might be, they do not attain Parama Puruśa.

Yakśa. Yakśa refers to a type of devayoni which, in its previous life, asked for material wealth from Parama Puruśa, or gave more importance to accumulating wealth to perform noble deeds than to supreme spiritual attainment. It forgot Parama Puruśa, and amassing wealth became the purpose of its life. In olden times, people would worship yakśas in the hope of gathering wealth, particularly in the Buddhist and Jain periods. Usually a particular place under a fig tree or banyan tree outside a village was fixed for the worship of yakśas. Those places are called “Brahmasthána” today in Bihar and some areas of Ráŕh, and some people are afraid to visit these places late at night. Yakśas are not harmful entities. They help human beings, but they cannot attain Parama Puruśa. They will have to be reborn in the form of living beings after their reactive momenta have exhausted.

Prakrtiliina. Those who want Parama Puruśa but worship crude matter out of misguided devotion attain the state of prakrtiliina after they die. These disembodied minds are transformed into bricks, stone, wood, etc. Those who pray to the idols made of clay, metal or wood out of misguided devotion can never attain Parama Puruśa because one can never attain supreme knowledge through this type of worship. The state of prakrtiliina is very miserable indeed because human beings who are endowed with a developed consciousness get transformed into crude matter like stone, wood, etc. After their accumulated reactive momenta are exhausted, they attain a human body again, but as they wanted to realize Parama Puruśa, they were devayonis.

If one sits for meditation in that particular place where these devayonis exist in the form of stone or wood in ardent expectation of their emancipation, positive microvita will help a spiritual aspirant. As they are devayonis, they do not harm anyone – rather they assist spiritualists. You must have noticed that while meditating at some places the mind becomes concentrated very quickly. This usually happens due to the grace of the Guru. It also happens through the cooperation of those devayonis which have attained the state of prakrtiliina. If mental concentration comes with the help of devayonis, a spiritual aspirant will sense a light sweet smell in the nose, but if this happens due to the grace of the Guru, along with the sweet smell the spiritual aspirant will glimpse fragmented waves of effulgent light, like glittering poppy seeds, whether the eyes are opened or closed. Either by the cooperation of devayonis or by the grace of the Guru, both experiences are manifestations of divine grace. When spiritual aspirants experience the direct grace of Parama Puruśa during meditation, they perceive a kind of light smell which makes their minds intoxicated with joy. Simultaneously, they visualise fragments of effulgence and experience a state of intoxicated hilarity which makes them oblivious to all kinds of petty differences, and transports them into the realm of cosmic oneness. In that state of blissful communion, the Guru and Iishvara become one, producing a kind of sweet vibration in the spiritual aspirant who realizes:

Guru krpáhi kevalam

[The Guru’s grace is everything.]

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Brahmaeva Gurureva náparah

[Brahma alone is the Guru.]

Videhaliina. Those who continue their spiritual practices and at the same time seek liberation from the bondages of the solid and liquid factors pray, “O God, I am fed up with all these mundane problems, please grant me liberation. So many problems come and distract my mind. Why do I experience so many misfortunes? My son failed his examinations; my daughter fell seriously ill; the bank where I kept my savings closed down. How many more misfortunes are waiting for me? Enough of all this. Please grant me emancipation.” People with this type of psychology attain the state of videhaliina after their demise – an unbearable condition. After their reactive momenta are exhausted, they are reborn again. These videhaliina devayonis help living beings. They do not harm anyone because they are positive microvita.

Siddha. The best and most useful of all the devayonis are the siddhas. Those who continue their spiritual practices, crossing the various stages due to cosmic grace, develop occult powers in the process of their forward movement. The collection of the six types of occult powers are called “sáda aeshvarya”. The collection of the eight occult powers are called “áśt́a aeshvarya”. Some of these occult powers are not attainable by ordinary penance, but they may be attained due to unconditional cosmic grace. Some of these occult powers – which are nothing but the unconditional grace of Parama Puruśa – are parakáya- pravesha or entering into the body of others; sarvajiṋatvá or omniscience; vák siddhi or the power to make whatever one says come true; etc. By dint of sádhaná, when sádhakas are established in the supreme truth, theoretically one can attain these states, but practically omniscient intellect is attained only by unconditional cosmic grace. Some other occult powers – for instance to perform the work of one sense organ through another sense organ, or to express one indriya through another indriya – are not attainable through individual effort. Due to unconditional grace, Parama Puruśa does not distribute all these occult powers, and the reason why He does not is known only to Him. These powers are the exclusive powers of Parama Puruśa.

The powers which are confined to Parama Puruśa alone are known as “vibhuti garimá”, not “garimá” alone. Garimá means “one of the occult powers of áśt́a aeshvarya”. As Shiva was endowed with all sorts of occult powers, one of the names of Shiva is “Vibhutinátha” or “Vibhutibhúśańa”. To Shiva, these occult powers were mere trinkets, so the common people called Shiva “Vibhutinátha”. Vi – bhú + ktin = Vibhutibhúśańa. One of its meanings is “any occult power”. Vibhuti also means “the final state of something”. As you know, the final state of anything is ashes – everything in this universe becomes ashes in the end. Vibhuti also means “ashes”.

Hence, if spiritual aspirants start practising meditation and in the process acquire a few occult powers, and thereafter these occult powers become the focal point of their efforts and Parama Puruśa becomes the secondary objective, such aspirants attain the state of siddha after their physical demise. A siddha is the highest state of devayoni. They help spiritual aspirants in various ways; their roles are primarily those of aids or guardians.

There are some people in the world who are regarded as great personalities, and in the past there were also some great personalities, but no one knows about their Gurus. It is said that these great personalities were initiated by the siddhas. That is, these personalities used to follow spiritual practices according to the knowledge they had acquired. Suddenly the Iśt́a Mantra of their previous life was conveyed to them by the siddhas, hence these types of people were called “siddha diikśita” or “siddha initiated”. These siddhas are highly evolved sádhakas, but they deviated from the path of spirituality to attain occult powers.

In the olden days, people used to describe occult powers as “siddha” in the Hindustani language. You should remember that these occult powers are a kind of test in which genuine sádhakas should not be trapped. If Parama Puruśa says, even through hints, “I am ready to give you occult powers, are you ready to accept them?” You should say in reply, “No my Lord, let Your occult powers remain with You alone and shine in resplendent glory. I do not want them. I want only You.”

In this connection I am reminded of an old story. I knew two people from Muzzaffapur who were good sádhakas. Once they decided to go to the other side of the Buŕigańd́aka river and practise meditation there late at night. It was a dark night in the rainy season and the river was full to the brim. Though the river was not very wide, it was very deep. They wondered how they would cross over to the other side. Suddenly, they noticed a bright light a little distance in front of them. They decided to go and find out what it was, so they began walking towards it. The light moved on, and sometime later it came to a place where it began to move across the surface of the river. They followed the light very closely, and to their utter amazement they found that the river was quite narrow at that spot and the water was not even knee deep. They easily crossed the river, then did their meditation quite alone. Later, they wondered how they would return, because they were again faced with the problem of how to cross the river. Shortly, the same light reappeared, so they followed the light as before. At the same place in the river, the light crossed over to the other side and disappeared. This was positive microvita of the siddha group.

9 October 1988, Calcutta