Stories on adyathmika sanketha (spiritual symbolism or sign)

I recently got the following comment / request on one of my past blogs (Symbolism in the Ramayana): "Sir I am student studying ma final year bharathanatyam I am doing theasis about, in bharthanatyam we are doing abhinaya for stories on the same topic I'm doing symbolism study it means adyathmika sanketha of stories if u have any reffrence Or symbolic study of stories plz help me... "

Here is my response below which might be of interest to some people.

There are many parables, stories and symbolism in the Smritis (Puranas and Epics etc.), which are intended to explain to lay (ordinary) people the complex and important Vedic / Upanisadaic philosophy / spirituality.

The Puranic story of sage Narada acquiring the head / face of a monkey from Lord (Vishnu) while wishing to present himself (Narada) as a potential candidate for the hand of a beautiful princess in a Svayamvara (bride selecting the groom during wedding) was meant to convey the message that the real spirituality (as in the case of great devotee Narada) and the mundane worldly pursuits (Narada easily given to the lust for a beautiful princess and wishing to marry her at any cost, while even asking the Lord to turn him into a charming prince during the svayamvara) are not a good mix.

Moreover, the face of a monkey to spiritually dedicated Narada during svayamvara is also a sign of Narada's easy attraction to worldly things (toys), like a monkey, which causes enormous humiliation to Narada during svayamvara as everyone in the audience laughs at him.

The essence of spirituality and leading a spiritual life is to attain Liberation by getting rid of bondage of the soul. The need for self-control and self-discipline is extremely important to this end. Moreover, as the Bhagavad Gita (BG - Ch. 16: V. 21 & 22) states that three are the gates to hell (demise / bondage of the soul): the gate of lust, the gate of wrath, and the gate of greed - which need to be shunned (through self-control and self-discipline) to get rid of darkness (bondage of soul) and attain Liberation.

The lust, greed and wrath (extreme anger, usually vengeful / vindictive) not only can pose a threat to a person himself / herself including tarnish and diminish his / her own peace, tranquility and mental capacity (the essential states of mind for a spiritually fulfilled life, BG - Ch. 2: V. 62 & 63), but these (lust, wrath and greed) can also result, directly and indirectly, in affecting and harming other innocent victims, as seen in many instances even today.

Thus there are many tales since the ancient times in the Smritis, which describe situations and use symbolism to teach people to shy away from lust (as in the above tale about Sage Narada), wrath and greed for their own sake and for the sake of others.

One of the ancient story involving 'adhyathmika sanketha' to shun wrath is about Sage Vishwamitra who, even though having acquired the status / title as Raj-Rishi (King Sage), did not achieve the status as Braham-Rishi (Supreme Sage, like Braham-Rishi Vishishatha) due to his (Vishwamitra's) short temper. Vishwamitra eventually did tremendous penance and learnt to stay calm and get rid of quick temper before becoming a Braham-Rishi.

Another ancient story describes similarly the downside of being greedy. Parvati, Shiva's consort, had an opulent palatial city (Lanka) built for her and her husband. Before moving into the new abode, Parvati decided to perform holy rituals and have the place blessed by a learned Brahmin priest. For that, she chose Ravana, the most learned Brahmin then (having the knowledge of ten men). Ravana came and performed rituals as sought by Parvati, while also himself getting impressed by the beauty and opulence of Lanka. He became very greedy and asked Parvati to hand over Lanka to him as dakshina (holy fee) for performing holy rituals as a Brahmin. As Parvati could not say 'no', the important condition for 'dakshina', Parvati ended up giving away Lanka to Ravana, while cursing him that he would also soon lose it, which he did (lost it later) when Hanuman burnt down Ravana's Lanka while visiting imprisoned Sita there. This 'adhyathmika sanketha' story establishes the futility of greed on the part of Ravana.