Rohiṇī
Meaning:
A blushing woman, a “rosy lady.”
Symbol:
Symbols of fertility: a bull pulling a cart full of produce;
a huge banyan tree.
Deity:
Brahmā, the forefather and creator.
An attractively blushing woman signals procreation. A bull is a symbol of male fertility, and a cart overflowing with produce is a symbol of female fertility. A banyan tree is a symbol of creativity because it keeps growing and growing. Trees in general are known by their fruit, and fruits are symbols of children – procreation. The deity of Rohiṇī, Brahmā, is the father of all creatures, and the creator of everything in the universe. Thus Rohiṇī is most certainly the star of fertility & creativity, traits always accompanied by passion and beauty.
Let’s explore who Brahmā is and hear some stories connected with him, to better appreciate the fertile creative energy and passion within his star, Rohiṇī.
God of Creativity
Hinduism is commonly portrayed to Christianized audiences as having a “trinity” of primary deities: Viṣṇu, Brahmā, and Śiva. It is not an entirely inaccurate description.
Indian thought conceives of the world as being composed of three basic forces in an infinite variety of ratios– much as color theory conceives of the various ratios of three primary colors creating the infinite spectrum. These three forces are sattva, rajas, and tamas. Translating these rich terms is not easy. We could say they are clarity, redness and shadow. These three forces respectively cause three essential universal events: maintenance, creation, and destruction. Three extremely powerful beings control these events by commanding the three forces. Viṣṇu keeps things existing by commanding the force of clarity, sattva. Brahmā creates things by commanding the reddening force, rajas. Śiva destroys things by commanding the force of shadow, tamas.
Brahmā is the deity of the reddening power of creation and passion, rajas. So he is naturally the deity of the red star Rohiṇī, the blushing fertile woman. We can clearly understand that Rohiṇī is a star of fertile passions, motivations, sexual interests, and creative powers of all sorts.
Tale of Creation
Vedic literature gives us a few different angles on the birth of Brahmā and how he created the world. Manusmṛti’s first chapter and Vāmana Purāṇa’s 43rd chapter use a metaphor of an “egg” within an ocean. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives context to all the various descriptions, especially in the third chapter of its first division, and the fourth and fifth chapters of its second division, and the eighth chapter of its third division. I will incorporate all the sources, including Vedānta Sūtra and Brahmā’s own account in Brahmā Saṁhita, as I present you the Purāṇic tale of creation:
First of all there is consciousness, and it is full of inherent joy and bliss.
Joy, however, is not stagnant. It expresses and shares as the very fundamental essence of what it is. Therefore there is eternal plurality within that non-dual entity of joy. In simpler terms, an infinite number of beings eternally center on the original being – and joy manifests itself in infinite shapes, colors, sounds, etc, as an ever amplified exchange flowing between the One and the many.
The infinite souls are not forced into this position, however, so a mirror image of this reality also exists, where the centrality of the original entity is obscured. Facilitating this, the mirror-realm is shrouded in darkness. Into this darkness the original being sends an expansion of himself: the Puruṣa, the original Viṣṇu.
There was nothing at all within the darkness, so the Puruṣa created an ocean from the water of his pure and sweet self (“perspiration,” but his perspiration is fresh, sweet, pure water). We call this kārana-udaka, “the ocean of causes and possibilities.” His energies, which always accompany him manifest a sea-dragon upon whom he reclined, and a divine goddess who lovingly attended him.
Partially submerged in the waters as he reclined upon the floating sea-dragon, an infinite number of bubbles exhaled from the pores of his body. Each bubble is what we would probably call a “universe” in modern terms. Some tales portray these bubbles as “eggs,” specifically as golden eggs. This is because an egg is a circular shape which contains within it the materials and energies required to create something new. The egg is golden because it glows with conscious power, being a radiation directly from the divine all-conscious body of the Puruṣa.
Eggs require seeds before they create anything. Therefore the Puruṣa penetrated into each of them (some accounts describe it as piercing or cracking the egg to deposit life force within it). Within each egg he found another void and vacant space. Once again he created an ocean, and reclined upon his energy in the shape of a sea-dragon. Partially submerged in the universal ocean, some of its water collected in his naval. He then caused a lotus flower of universal proportions to grow in it. Flowers are unique among creatures in that they reproduce asexually. Thus a flower was a fitting vehicle through which to deliver the first being who had no parents other than Godhead himself. (For this reason, another name for Brahmā is Aja, “unborn,” because he was not born in a conventional sense.) When the flower at the top of that lotus opened its petals, the god of creation Brahmā sat upon its central whorl.
At first Brahmā did not know who he was, what he was supposed to do, or how he was supposed to do it. He climbed down the stem of the lotus but couldn’t find its end. He looked around in all other directions and thus developed five heads (east, west, north, south, and up – later Śiva removed one of these, so he has four heads. See Devī Bhāgavata division 5 and Vāmana Purāṇa division 2). By his own endeavor he could find no clue to answer his questions.
Then the Puruṣa spoke a single word, which Brahmā heard as a voice from the vastness of space: tapa. This was an instruction to Brahmā, “Be still. Control yourself. Be humble. Then you will understand.”
Brahmā practiced stillness and self-control, and as a result his mind became receptive to a full transmission of knowledge from Viṣṇu. In that transmission he received everything he needed to know, including the blueprint of how to use the primordial energies available within the “egg” to assemble all the various forms and creations of the universe.
Before Brahmā there was nothing but what we might call subatomic quantums. Everything which now exists is a creation of Brahmā or a creation of his creation. We often say, “Wow, so-and-so is so creative.” Brahmā is the most creative being in the universe. Just stop and think for a minute about how immensely creative Brahmā must be. Now, I hope, you can more deeply appreciate that the primary trait of Rohiṇī is extreme creativity and creative empowerment.
Original Forefather
Brahmā was born before anyone else, and everyone else was born through him (with the exception of the Puruṣa and his immediate energies in the form of his sea-dragon and consort). Thus an often used name for Brahmā is Prajāpati, the original “forefather.” Brahmā created many other prajāpati to help him, but when Prajāpati is used in a singular, specific manner it refers specifically to Brahmā.
Because Brahmā created many beings directly from his thought we should know that his star, Rohiṇī is full of creative thoughts and ideas, a place of very fertile and active imagination.
Brahmā later created many beings in a more conventional manner. Therefore we should also know that Rohiṇī is a “sexy” star with strong procreative and romantic passions.
Brahmā Marries His Daughter
In this regard there is a story too interesting not to tell here. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12 tells it, starting from the 28th text:
How should Brahmā reproduce sexually if there is no one who exists besides himself? He must first create his wife. So in a sense his wife must be his own daughter. This daughter, named Vāk (the power of speech, another name for Sārasvatī, the goddess of learning), was not at all into the idea. Brahmā pressured her and his other children stopped him in protest. Ashamed of what he had done, Brahmā created a new body for himself, to wash off the impurity of his thoughts. The old body turned into a dangerous fog in the darkness.
Later on Vāk agreed to marry Brahmā, seeing his predicament, but the two are not a happy couple and live at a distance from one another.
This story illustrates that there is potential in Rohiṇī to get overly passionate and sensual.
Other Outstanding Children of Brahmā
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12 describes Śiva as the child of Brahmā. He sprang from Brahmā’s mind, emerged from between his furrowed eyebrows when Brahmā became furious that his quadruplet sons refused to take up the duty of procreation in favor of living a celibate life of spiritual pursuit.
There is good reason why Śiva comes from Brahmā. It is this: Viṣṇu is the first god because he controls the power of sattva, the energy of existence itself. Existence cannot manifest itself, however, without creation – so from Viṣṇu comes the god of creative passion (rajas), Brahmā. Passion (a primary trait of rajas) leads to anger (a primary trait of tamas). What is created must be destroyed, and without destruction there is no room for creation. Due to such dynamics, rajas always invokes tamas – and therefore the god of tamas (Śiva) emerges from the god of rajas (Brahmā).
Thus although Rohiṇī is almost always a beautiful and pleasant star, it also has a brief but hot temper when frustrated.
Other highly noteworthy children of Brahmā’s mind include:
- The seven original sages.
- The four kumara & Nārada.
- “Cupid” the god of lust.
This highly abridged list demonstrates that Rohiṇī’s fertile talents and creativity are suited for intellectual as well as artistic refinement, and can be as well put to spiritual use as to common enjoyment and lust.
Conclusion
Rohiṇī is the star that provides the fertile imagination which gives rise to passion for beautiful artistic and intellectual creativity and enjoyment.
~~~ Vic DiCara ~~~
www.vicdicara.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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