A long long time ago, when demons stole the sacred texts of ancient India, Vishnu took the form of Hayagriva, and fought the great fight with the demons until he slayed them and won back the sacred knowledge – Truth – and returned the Vedas to Brahma.
The battle was enormous because everything was at stake. Without Truth there could only be darkness, ignorance, fear and manipulation. The future of mortals and of gods rested on the Truth being found and restored and shared – for the benefit of all sentient beings in all dimensions.
I like to believe in Hayagriva: an incarnation of Vishnu, seated on a white lotus with the body of a man and the head of a horse – representing the triumph of illuminating intelligence and pure knowledge over ignorance and darkness. I like to believe in a world like that with a being like that.
Because fast forward to planet earth 2013: Amnesty International UK reported this week that the British government oversaw the destruction of the Guardian’s and the Observer’s hard drives on British soil because they refused to stop reporting on Edward Snowden’s disclosure about NSA surveillance.
In the world we live in, reporters can no longer email each other and are flying to different parts of the world to deliver stories and exchange information in person. Their electronic correspondence is being intercepted – as is all of ours. But those who are paid to tell the story may no longer speak freely. Sharing the truth with the wider world is no longer a freedom given in the free world.
Clearly there is a struggle going on. There are forces that would bind us to ignorance, and keep us in darkness if only we would just comply. After news like today’s, when events take a turn as they have, I had gotten to wondering – how will this end?
Who, I wondered, is going to bring Truth and pure, unfiltered intelligence back to us now?
If human rights agencies are reporting abuses happening in the free world on the order of the leaders of the most democratized, developed and advanced nations on this planet, who amongst us mortals will be strong or resilient enough to fight forces as dark and as invincible as those before us – and win?
A few hours later, I found out that today of all days, is Hayagriva’s birthday.
At the end of each age, when the demon Ajnana steals the Vedic knowledge, Lord Hayagriva appears and preserves it. Then He delivers it to Lord Brahma. At the end of the millennium, ignorance personified assumed the form of a demon, stole all the Vedas and took them down to the planet of Rasatala. The Supreme Lord, however, in His form of Hayagriva retrieved the Vedas and returned them to Lord Brahma.
–Srimad-Bhagavatam 5:18 Summary
Hayagriva’s victory isn’t on any battlefield, political, ideological or electronic – out there. It’s on the battlefield of our individual soul. What he did when he wrestled the Vedas out of the hands of the asuras was to save the deepest truths about the real nature of things from being lost in the darkest depths of the ocean of ignorance and unconsciousness within us.
If we call on him, we should not expect a revolution out there, but instead a revolution in our hearts. True freedom is born from seeing the reality of a thing. And you can’t slay anything, especially not a demon, if you don’t have clear awareness of true, underlying nature of the thing.
So the calling of Hayagriva is a call to Self awareness. The greater the number of people who are aware of the Truth, the more illumined the world, and the more diminished the influence of darkness upon it.
The only way out is in.
The more enlightened we are, the more enlightened our choice of leaders will be. If it’s really time for a new paradigm, the shift has to begin within. And according to the Vedas, the most powerful way to begin that shift is to invoke the archetypes of the destroyers of ignorance throughout time and space.
No better time than the birthday of the archetypal being that wrestled the Truth out of the hands of demons to get it to us.
In Hindu mythology Hayagriva’s role as the defender of pure intelligence and pure knowledge earns him the title of ‘Defender of the Faith’.
So this evening, on a blue moon in August, in the middle of a world that is clearly entrenched in great battles, battles in which the Truth is at stake. On this evening, which happens to be Hayagriva’s birthday, I will follow the Vedic path and call on Hayagriva to illumine my heart and bring intelligence and pure knowledge to my being.
And invite you to too.
Keep the Faith.
Originally published on my website, The Modern Girl’s Guide to Spirituality.
The post Why Edward Snowden Represents the Triumph Over Ignorance appeared first on Intent Blog.
