Kumbha Mela, the world’s largest gathering—religious or otherwise—is now in progress at Tirtharaja Prayaga where is it observed every twelve years. However, there are other Kumbha Melas that are organized at three other major tirtha-bhumis. The Puranas describe when and where these are held according planetary movements as Abhaya Mudra Dasi explains in detail ...
Planets of the Kumbha Mela
Stars of the Ocean of Nectar
Abhaya Mudra Dasi
Devotees of ISKCON join the throng of pilgrims to perform puja to the Triveni during Kumbha Mela
As described in the 8th canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam, long, long ago at the beginning of creation the demigods and demons cajoled the king of snakes Vasuki to act as their rope in order to churn the Ocean of Milk. With the object in mind of extracting the nectar of immortality from the ocean, they set about churning. As all devotees know, once the nectar manifested Lord Vishnu appeared and personally supervised the task of distribution to insure that the nectar would go to the demigods. Nonetheless once the demigods had control of the nectar, the guru of the demons Shukracharya expressed his dissatisfaction with the turn of events. He urged his demon followers to chase after the demigods and seize the nectar from them.
Noting the determination of Shukracharya, the guru of the demigods, Brihaspati passed the nectar-filled pot or kumbha to Jayanta, the son of Indra. Brihaspati ordered the other demigods to protect Jayanta while he battled with Shukracharya. Wishing to lay their hands upon the pot of nectar, the demons chased after the demigods for twelve days. In the meantime the demigods were drinking the nectar although they were forced to move from here to there being pursued by the followers of Shukracharya.
Fatigued, Jayanta needed to pause at four places in order to rest. Meanwhile, Chandra, the demi-god of the Moon and controller of the ocean tides, made sure that the son of Indra did not spill any of the liquid of immortality. The all-seeing demigod of the Sun guarded the vessel that it should not be broken. The grave and serious Shani or Saturn, who controls the results of karma, guarded Jayanta that he should not be tempted to drink any of the nectar by himself. Despite being watched by the powerful demigods, Jayanta spilled a few drops of nectar at the each of the four places where he rested. Those four places became the Kumbha Mela-stans. They are Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik.
Ever since time immemorial, those who desire the benefit of the nectar of immortality attend these Kumba Melas. The demigods were chased for twelve days which equals twelve Earthly years. Twelve years also equals one tour of Jupiter through the twelve signs of the zodiac and indicates that the demigods traveled throughout the entire universe while being chased by the demons. Attending the Kumbha Mela—whether at Prayag, Nasik, Ujjain or Haridwar—is therefore equal to a trip around the entire universe.
There are special astrological configurations which determine when a Kumbha Mela is held at each of the four punya bhimis. The Sun, Jupiter and Moon all played an important role in keeping the nectar from the hands of the demons. Therefore the time of the Kumbha Mela becomes fixed as per the astrological positions of these three planets.
—Kumbha Mela is held at Haridwar in Uttarakhand—where the holy Ganga leaps from the mighty Himalayas and enters the plains—when Jupiter is in Aquarius and Sun enters Aries (Guru Kumbha, Surya Mesha).
—Kumbha Mela is held at Prayag—modern day Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mystical Saraswati—when Jupiter is in Aries and the Sun and Moon enter Capricorn (Guru Mesha, Surya-Chandra Makara). Or when Jupiter is in Taurus and Sun enters Capricorn around the new moon day in the month of Magha (Guru Vrishabha, Makara Sankranti, Magha Amavashya). A similar configuration marked the start of the Kumbha Mela at Prayag this year.
—Kumbha Mela is held on the banks of Kshipra River at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh when Jupiter is in Scorpio and Sun enters Aries (Guru Vrischika, Surya Mesha—Scorpio and Aries are the two signs owned by Mars, and Ujjain is the birth place of Mars or Mangal, just beside the Sandipani Muni Ashram). Or when Jupiter enters Libra and Sun and Moon remain together in the month of Damodar (Guru Tula, Kartik Amavashya). This latter Kumbha Mela is called Moksha Dayak Kumbha and attendance carries the promise of freedom from all material bondage.
—Kumbha Mela is held on the banks of the Godavari River at Nasik in Maharashtra when Jupiter and Sun are in Leo (Guru, Surya Simha). Or when Jupiter, Sun and Moon enter Cancer on the day of the dark Moon (Guru, Surya, Chandra Karkataka).
This year the Kumbha Mela began on Makara Sankranti when the Sun entered Capricorn which occured on 14 January. As explained in the Bhagavata’s Fifth Canto, this moment marks Surya Narayana’s change from his southern path (dakshinayana or the region of the pitris) into his northern route (uttarayana) and into the region of the devatas. When the mela begins on Makara Sankranti it becomes especially auspicious and is called Kumbha Snana-yoga. On the day of Makara Sankranti the passage from our Earth into the higher planets opens up and thus allows the soul easy attainment of the celestial regions. For such reasons, the Kumbha Mela is popular among many classes of elevationists in India and throughout the world.
Devotees of Shri Krishna are usually not so much interested in attending the Kumbha Mela for any sort of material reward since they have no interest in promotion to the higher material planes. However even Shrila Prabhupada attended the festival during 1971 (the ardha-kumbha or“6-year half mela”) and in 1977 (the purna-kumbha). By his example Shrila Prabhupada showed that it is always beneficial for devotees to preach the ultimate message of Krishna consciousness to aspiring transcendentalists on such occasions. As far as personal rewards are concerned, the devotee’s view of such melas is explained by Shrila Prabhupada in his discussion of Prayag’s yearly Magha Mela in Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya-lila 18.145, Purport):
“‘If one goes to Prayaga and bathes at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna in the month of Magha, he attains the result of giving hundreds and thousands of cows in charity. Simply by bathing for three days there, he attains the results of such a pious activity.’
Because of this, the Sanodiya brahmana was very eager to go to Prayaga and bathe. Generally karmis (fruitive laborers) take advantage of bathing there during the month of Magha, thinking that they will be rewarded in the future. Those who are situated in devotional service do not very strictly follow this karma-kandiya process.” P
A great personality is known by his deeds which in turn are foreseen by the horoscope at the exact moment of birth. The planets mirror a future that has already been determined by past life piety. Those planets work together to shape his destiny as we can see in the case of King Parikshit.
Birth of Maharaja Parikshit
Hero of Shrimad Bhagavatam
Patita Pavana das Adhikary
Through the astrological arrangement of the planets—that is, according to the rising sign, planetary house positions, rashi or signs of planets, etc.—the past and future fate of anyone who takes birth can be ascertained by an expert jyotish shastri. Shrila Vyasadeva explains the foundational elements of astrology here and there in the Bhagavata and other Puranas while the specific details have been filled in by his father Shri Parashara Muni, and by those who follow Parashari jyotish. Any study of astrology without a foundation in the Puranas, as is commonly seen today among fad astrologers, is patently useless. Such non-Vaishnava would-be soothsayers learn a few rules by rote though they are utterly lacking in a personalist understanding of stellar philosophy based upon Krishna consciousness. And that is why Shrila Prabhupada famously advised us to avoid karmi (non-devotee) astrologers.
King Parikshit chastises the wicked lord of sin, Kali who pleads for his life © BBT
Sage Narada says that if you want to find a perfect muhurta, then you must wait millions of years. And sometimes when such a precious muhurta arrives, the Lord, His expansions or His representatives take advantage of the auspicious planetary alignments and appear for the upliftment of the world. This article will give evidence from a verse and Bhaktivedanta Purport of Shrimad Bhagavatam that describes such an auspicious moment: the glorious birth of King Parikshit.
There is a significant word in that verse (given below): grahodaye. Graha means in a broad sense “planet,” but the Western misconception of a massive ball of material energy—a planet—that magically circles in space does little justice to the term graha. In fact, the Western concept of dead planets actually negates the very personal foundation of astrology because they have no understanding of the great controllers, the powerful demi-gods, who are the personalities behind the grahas. On the other hand, the Vedic astrological concept is not one of mere planets, but of grahas, or power points. Graha in astrology implies a personal force or energy for a certain purpose. The concept of graha must be realized to grasp astrology in its original sense as Lord Krishna, the creator of this great science of light, intended. And that is why only a Vaishnava, a personalist, can be an astrologer. All others, whether Mayavadis or karmis, are excluded by virtue of their inability to understand the different personalities of the demigods as representatives of the Supreme Lord, and the personal forces these powerful representatives of Krishna control.
The Online Sanskrit Dicitonary’s definition of the word graha (http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=graha&trans=Translate&direction=AU) imparts the principle of astrology in a nutshell. Graha means “to seize, take, catch, grasp, conceive or lay hold of.” In this way the results of one’s past karma, as directed by the great controllers of the planets, seize the individual and make him a victim of his previous works whether for suffering or so-called enjoyment. Graha means also “tenacity, alligator, large sea creature or prisoner” in the sense that one is seized by his karma as an aligator or aquatic predator turns his prey into his prisoner and adamantly refuses to let go. In this sense, eclipses are also referred to as grahans because Rahu seizes the Sun in his shadowy grip.
The graha term also means a “ladle” which holds a specified amount because that is what we receive as per our charts, a specific amount of karma-phal measured accurately against our good and bad deeds of purva-punya. We are ladled out proportions of this much enjoyment and that much suffering. The devotee who has renounced both suffering and enjoyment in favor of the eternal enjoyment of loving exchanges with Krishna in a mood of devotional service understands his debt to the spiritual master for freeing him from the ladle of karma. In other words, by virtue of the Holy Names of the Lord as given by the bona fide spiritual master at initiation, one transcends the influences of the planets that have bound him since time immemorial. Hence by the divine grace of Shri Guru we are released from the power of the grahas as Rahu must give up his grasp on the Sun or Moon when the time for the end of the eclipse arrives.
In the verse under discussion the exact word that is used is grahodaya. This means graha-udaya, which is the rising or coming into position of a proper planetary alignment. Such unique astrological permutations are measured to exactly foretell the future events in the unfolding life of anyone who takes birth.
Each of the demi-gods who control material nature in this mustard seed Universe are entrusted with portfolios to rule over different types of energy that affect every jataki, or “one who is born.” The specific energies each of the planets as representatives of the Supreme Lord are described in the fifth canto of the Bhagavatam. Jupiter is the planet of devotion, religion or big business. Saturn is the planet of hard luck or, in his higher octave, of austerity and penance. Mars is the planet of strife or boldness, depending upon his position in the chart. The feminine Moon is the planet of the mind and of nourishment while the masculine Sun is the planet of ego on one hand and self-realization on the other. Thus the personal understanding of a planet as graha can be ascertained from the following verse. These are understandings that only the Vaishnava can properly comprehend.
Shrila Prabhupada on Astrology
In the verse and Bhaktivedanta Purport regarding the appearance of King Parikshit (SB 1.12.12), grahodaya refers to the planets placed in auspicious positions that herald the future heir to the throne of King Pandu.
tataḥ sarva-gunodarke tatah sanukula-grahodaye
jajne vamsa-dhara pandor bhuyah pandur ivaujasa
“Thereupon, when all the good signs of the zodiac gradually evolved, the heir apparent of Pandu, who would be exactly like him in prowess, took birth.” (SB 1.12.12)
BHAKTIVEDANTA PURPORT: Astronomical calculations of stellar influences upon a living being are not suppositions, but are factual, as confirmed in Shrimad Bhagavatam. Every living being is controlled by the laws of nature at every minute, just as a citizen is controlled by the influence of the state. The state laws are grossly observed, but the laws of material nature, being subtle to our gross understanding, cannot be experienced grossly. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita (3.9), every action of life produces another reaction, which is binding upon us, and only those who are acting on behalf of Yajna (Vishnu) are not bound by reactions. Our actions are judged by the higher authorities, the agents of the Lord, and thus we are awarded bodies according to our activities. The law of nature is so subtle that every part of our body is influenced by the respective stars, and a living being obtains his working body to fulfill his terms of imprisonment by the manipulation of such astronomical influence. A man's destiny is therefore ascertained by the birth time constellation of stars, and a factual horoscope is made by a learned astrologer. It is a great science, and misuse of a science does not make it useless.
Maharaja Parikshit or even the Personality of Godhead appear in certain constellations of good stars, and thus the influence is exerted upon the body thus born at an auspicious moment. The most auspicious constellation of stars takes place during the appearance of the Lord in this material world, and it is specifically called jayanti, a word not to be abused for any other purposes. Maharaja Parikshit was not only a great kshatriya emperor, but also a great devotee of the Lord. Thus he cannot take his birth at any inauspicious moment. As a proper place and time is selected to receive a respectable personage, so also to receive such a personality as Maharaja Parikshit, who was especially cared for by the Supreme Lord, a suitable moment is chosen when all good stars assembled together to exert their influence upon the King. Thus he took his birth just to be known as the great hero of Shrimad Bhagavatam.
This suitable arrangement of astral influences is never a creation of man’s will, but is the arrangement of the superior management of the agency of the Supreme Lord. Of course, the arrangement is made according to the good or bad deeds of the living being. Herein lies the importance of pious acts performed by the living being. Only by pious acts can one be allowed to get good wealth, good education and beautiful features. The samskaras of the school of sanatan-dharma (man’s eternal engagement) are highly suitable for creating an atmosphere for taking advantage of good stellar influences, and therefore garbhadhan-samskara, or the first seedling purificatory process prescribed for the higher castes, is the beginning of all pious acts to receive a good pious and intelligent class of men in human society. There will be peace and prosperity in the world due to good and sane population only; there is hell and disturbance only because of the unwanted, insane populace addicted to sex indulgence.
Always practical, Shrila Prabhupada has ended on an instructive and cautionary note. The implication is that through unrestricted sex indulgence, unworthy jivas whose birth charts reflect the sins of their past lives, take birth and drag society down through undermining any remaining moral standard. Whether one is born for poverty and sin or for rising to the post of world savior, all that is seen in his graha-udaya of birth chart. And that is why the equipoised devotee looks upon all sorts of karma-phal, whether leading to enjoyment or to misery, as one and the same.
As far as the subject of sexual indulgence mentioned by Shrila Prabhupada, we note that even farmers plant only at the right time as to insure a good crop. When plants are afforded that benefit, should not Vaishnavas procreate when the stars and the time of night are properly aligned? But that subject must remain aside for a separate article. P
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