Given widespread Covid (Ko-vid in Sanskrit) means a skilled or versed one, the vid is of vidvaan coming from veda), there may have been a feeling that some hidden message is being given. I shall try to articulate it in a short poem:

Speed of the human species is maimed.
Science is shamed, technology lamed
Nature, She laughs, asks, does not blame:
“Who’s the Boss, Sir? Pray, name!”

Message is written wide and clear
Come back home, child! Far, far you’ve gone from home dear!
To the Universe, the wisest is a dumb-wit
Soar not high,
Be humble and come back, to the soul commit.

Towers of commerce and busy streets,
Marts, gambolling arcades and car fleets
All must rest, the biological heart must breathe
Brought home not by wisdom, but by disease.

There are two terms maari and mahamaari. The harm to the individual results from the individual karmas, mahamari which brings the death knell upon tens of thousands, sometimes even more, is clearly a result of collective karma. The answer to it lies as much in individual exertion as it does in collective action.

Of the three types of sufferings, the adhidaivika duhkha or tapa is that which is caused by daiva. The word daiva includes the power of time, nature and the unseen hand or fate. Diseases caused by the changing seasons, misery caused by the elemental forces like floods and fire, suffering caused by disembodied spirits or gods who are displeased, natural tribulations due to hunger, thirst and old-age belong to this group.

The locus of the three types of sufferings lies at different chakras; adhibhautika ones vibrating with the lowest chakras, adhyatmic ones vibrating in the mid and higher chakras and adhidiavik in simply the highest chakra. This has a deep significance. As human beings, we may be reckless in physical and mental habits; lack of sanitation, improper food habits, and wanton lifestyle and suffer the lower two types of miseries, but the adhidaivik ones are entirely a result of retrograded intellect.

The body can be displeased with us and could rebel, similarly, mind could rebel, other creatures could rebel, but gods being displeased is not an occurrence we must take lightly.

All adhidaivik afflictions are direct signals of adharma. An epidemic of the haemorrhagic fever Ebola, Swine flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Bird flu, AIDS, Hongkong, Asian and Spanish flu –all these and the natural calamities we have suffered, point at the fundamental error in the way mankind is conducting itself.

In our Shastras there are a few mahamaari महामारी (diseases causing great mortality) or aapad आपद् (calamity) mantras. Here are two of them which may be chanted in addition to Surya Namaskara.

आधिव्याधिमहामारिग्रहपीडापहारिणे ।
प्राणापहन्त्रे दैत्यानां रामप्राणात्मने नमः

Aadhi vyaadhi mahaamaari graham peedaapa haarine,
Pranaapa hanrte daityaanaam, raam praanatmane namah

जयन्ती मंगला काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी।।
दुर्गा क्षमा शिवा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तुते।।

Om jayanti mangalaa kaali bhadrakaali kapaalini
Durga kshamaa shivaa dhaatri swaahaa swadhaa namastutay

The Shankaracharya of Govardhan Math, Puri, Swami Nischalanada Saraswati had some interesting perspective on the why of Corona… He pointed that following:

Violation of bearers of this world, such as the holy cow, Veda-versed Brahmin, chaste woman, those who are not greedy, great charity-givers etc., these uphold peace and health of the planet. The moment human society starts assaulting these, calamities are inevitable.

We have been despoiling the sources of all energy, the panch mahabhutas. Man has polluted earth, water, fire, air…forests, oceans, mountains etc. and is paying the price.

Extensive discoveries and indiscriminate use of mega-machines (mahayantras) is responsible for many calamities. Swamiji has been speaking about the disasters that come in the wake of mega-machines for quite some time, including his speech in IIT the hotbed of mega-machine inventions. He drew our attention to the vahanas of Gods, a bull for Shiva, tiger for Devi, mouse for Ganesh, eagle for Vishnu, peacock for Kartikeya, crocodile for Ganga and so forth. None of these was a machine, though machines weren’t unknown at the time. The likes of Vishwakarma and Maya fashioned many sophisticated gadgets, arms and magical mansions, but they drew a line. Life-forms always found precedence. The farmer used the oxen and the cows and cattle. Use of hands was mandated by artisans and all other classes.

Swamiji argued that you can run the srishthi daivically or adaivically. If you live according to the Vedic injunctions, even if you call the shots, the world is actually run by God, a divine force. It is then a divya srishti. But self-indulgent wisdom downgrades existence from the divine, which works with nature, to demonic-human level.

We have seen some robot monsters wreaking havoc in Hollywood films. That is no fantasy, machines we have made for convenience are ruining us. Swamiji pointed out that our smart cities are un-smart from a spiritual point of view and could prove dangerous.

Come to think of it, we start the use of machines right from birth with the test tube babies, and then the whole assembly line principle which is at the heart of consumer goods, is a fodder for lethal mahayantra.

Swamiji says Manu warned us that mahayantras could create mahaamaari epidemic, economic destruction and so on. Those words are bearing ample truth.

As Sitaramdas Omkarnath has repeatedly pointed out, Swamiji also speaks of indiscriminate ahara vihaar – especially aahaar (food habits), and says these have, and can continue to prove detrimentalto the mankind.

Mankind in general, and India in particular, hasn’t displayed much sense in discarding health habits of ancient India as superstition. For instance, no communicable disease could come near kusha grass (kusha grass came from the particles that fell when Bhagawana Varaha Avatara shook its back), there was safety in places where there are cows etc. People cleaned their hands with mud/ earth, thereby building a lot of immunity.

The culture of indiscriminate touching, hugging, shaking hands etc. is dangerous. What the Western world is learning now through social distancing and no touching mechanisms, the Hindu civilisation already knew. Therefore we never touched; we joined hands and said ‘Ram Ram’ from a distance. Swamiji said, according to the scriptures, only people who are qualified to shake hands are divinties like Brahma, Vishnu etc. Ordinary mortals just offered pranaam.

Today, in the light of an affliction caused by a subtle organism that cannot even be seen, the importance of paramanus (subtle particles) cannot be overlooked. Our scriptures state that the effect of these subtle particles becomes evident not only upon touching, but also through mere shadow of daivic or adaivic paramanu-filled object.

The modern culture has done away with sattvic and daivi paramanus and replaced it with adaivic or tamasic paramanus. Given all the above trespasses, the whole Vishwa, ironically, has been filled with Vish (poison) as against Vishnu.

Let me end with few words from Swami Vivekananda’s famous Plague Manifesto:

Brothers of Calcutta!

1. We feel happy when you are happy, and we suffer when you suffer. Therefore, during these days of extreme adversity, we are striving and ceaselessly praying for your welfare and an easy way to save you from disease and the fear of an epidemic.

2. If that grave disease — fearing which both the high and the low, the rich and the poor are all fleeing the city — ever really comes in our midst, then even if we perish while serving and nursing you, we will consider ourselves fortunate because you are all embodiments of God. He who thinks otherwise — out of vanity, superstition or ignorance — offends God and incurs great sin. There is not the slightest doubt about it.

3. We humbly pray to you — please do not panic due to unfounded fear. Depend upon God and calmly try to find the best means to solve the problem. Otherwise, join hands with those who are doing that very thing.

4. What is there to fear? The terror that has entered people's hearts due to the occurrence of the plague has no real ground. Through God's will, nothing of the terrible form that plague takes, as seen in other places, has occurred in Calcutta. The government authorities have also been particularly helpful to us. So what is there to fear?

Raj Supe (Kinkar Vishwashreyananda) 
Editor, The Mother.