WHAT
YOUR DREAMS AUGUR FOR YOU
Since antiquity, dreams have been a marvel for the
human conscience. Even in the 21st century when human beings have already landed
on the Moon and are scaling vast astronomical distances, dreams have not lost
their mystical attraction. Dreams are still a mystery for us and at the same
time have pleasing as well as terrorizing effects on us.
Our religious scriptures abound in the extensive descriptions about dreams. The
fact that a separate scripture had to be created especially for the analysis of
the dreams amply corroborate their importance. We may however say that analysis
of dreams is in fact an integral part of Astrology. Like astrology where
predictions are made according to the movement of the planets, dreams also help
us to draw an inference based on the sequence of events that we witness during
sleep.
A layman broadly divides his dreams into good and bad ones. Invariably, he takes
bad dreams as ill omens and vice versa. So-called modern intellectuals deride
one’s beliefs in dreams as mere superstitions. But it is also a fact that in
the western countries like USA, which is at least a century ahead of us in terms
of technological development, dreams constitute an interesting subject for
research in modern science.
WHY DO WE HAVE DREAMS
Different
people have different kinds of views regarding the origin of dreams. Mostly
these views are based on speculation. Scientists too have deeply studied the
dreams. They say that the dreams are an outcome of the unique quality of our
brain.
Brains of all higher animals including humans have two parts- 1) Conscious and
2) Sub-conscious. Conscious part of the brain is active during the awakened
hours. It directly interacts with our immediate external environment.
Sub-conscious part or mind on the other hand is always alert and keeps on
working even when we are asleep. It is in fact a sink for the conscious mind and
interacts constantly with our internal environment.
When we are awake, innumerable kinds of thoughts constantly appear in our
conscious minds. Like ripples, these thoughts appear, stay for a moment and then
disappear. Have you ever wondered where these thoughts go? Into our
sub-conscious mind that always keeps on receiving these thoughts and dissipating
them to nowhere, as is presumed usually. But these thoughts do not die out
according to our presumption. Our sub-conscious mind has its unique way of
disposing them. It plays these thoughts to us as dreams.
Desires are nothing but powerful thoughts. No matter how high a position a man
is enjoying, he would not be free from desires. A rich man might desire to
achieve something so that his name could become immortal. Even an ascetic who
has renounced the world might have a desire for having some mystical but
miraculous powers. All it means to say that desires do not leave a man till
death. Even the action that one undertakes in order to attain salvation are in
fact guided and driven by desire.
Now a question naturally arises: ‘Do all the desires that one might have
materialize?’ Not all of them. Most of the desires of most people remain
unfulfilled for one reason or another. Everyone has his physical as well as
mental limits. Surprisingly most of the people desire for things or achievements
that are beyond their limits. Our sub-conscious mind has a unique way of coping
with ever increasing desires. It shows those unfulfilled desires as dreams in
our sleep. Thus, in a way, dreams are nothing but those desires that are beyond
our limit and are hence largely unfulfilled.
In dreams, we get such things that we cannot enjoy in our awakened period. In
our dreams we can even make love to sexy, glamorous film heroines, something
that is impossible during awakened state.
DO
THE DREAMS AFFECT HUMAN LIFE?
Dreams
do affect our day-to-day life, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively,
though the scientific investigations to support this point are lacking. Your own
experience with the dreams and how you felt afterwards are the only things that
support this view. It is entirely a spiritual or para-psychological matter,
which is far beyond the precepts of physical sciences. But experiences of even a
layman have certain weight when it comes to the analysis of dreams.
Our religious scriptures contain profuse description of the dreams and their
effects. In Sunder kand of Ramayana, an ogress Trijata relates her dream to her
companion that in the dream, she had seen Ravan with tonsured head and going to
the south riding an ass and that there was great stampede in Lanka. It is well
known that within a month, her dream came true as Hanumana caused devastation by
setting Lanka on fire that resulted in a great stampede there. Even Ravan
ultimately migrated to the south i.e. met his death.
Dreams may also be termed as premonition i.e. having knowledge of the events
that are to take place in future. But all the people are not able to draw an
unfailing conclusion on the basis of the dreams. Those who are more pious, more
spiritual in nature have a developed ability to draw a conclusion on the basis
of the dreams. Same was the case with Trijata who is stated to be more pious and
spiritually inclined than the rest of the ogresses as is apparent from this
stanza:
TRIJATA
NAAM RAKSHASI EKA, RAAM CHARAN RATI NIPUN BIBEKA ||
SABANHU BOLI SUNAESI SAPANA, SEETAHI SEI KAREHU HIT APANA ||
SAPANEN BANAR LANKA JAARI, JAATU DHAAN SAINA SAB MAARI ||
KHAR AARURH NAGAN DASASEESA, MUNDIT SIR KHANDIT BHUJ BEESA||
EHI BIDHI SO DACHCHHIN DISI JAI, LANKA MANAHU VIBHISHAN PAI ||
NAGAR PHIRI RAGHUBIR DOHAI, TAB PRABHU SEETA BOLI PATHAI ||
All
the dreams do not have similar effects. Outcome of some of the dreams begins to
manifest within a few days whereas others might take months or even years to
show their outcome. It is generally believed that only those dreams have effect,
which we have during deep slumber. Those dreams that we have during short nap
are usually ineffective. Thus, time of the dream is equally important. In any
case, correct interpretation of dream helps us to condition ourselves physically
and mentally to deal with the ensuing circumstances.
CATEGORIES
OF DREAMS
Broadly,
the dreams have been divided into 3 categories.
- Strange
dreams.
- Premonition
dreams.
- Dreams
those reflect real life.
- Strange
dreams :
As
is apparent from the name, these dreams are strange in nature and produce
strange feelings in the dreamer. The sequences that are played in such kind of
dreams have no connection with reality such as one can see in a dream, a person
with four heads, sixteen hands or with huge mountain-like body. One might even
see elephants flying in his dream. Such sequences have no connection with
reality but still people experience them. Sequences can be even stranger than
one might expect.
- Premonition dreams:
This
category of dream can have two types- dreams that augur well, and dreams that
augur ill. These are the most important kinds of dreams, which have long-lasting
effect on our daily life. Sequences seen in these dreams like visiting temples
and places of pilgrimage, sighting holy people and having their blessings and
many such things, which are pleasant to us. Contrary to such sequences, one
might see a woman clad in red or black sari taking someone towards the south.
This type of sequences always augurs ill. Similarly, sighting of shooting stars
and breaking shoes also indicate some mishap.
- Dreams that show real thing :
This type of dream also does not have much importance and materialize only rarely. These dreams however fulfil our incomplete desires. Such as for example, one might be desirous of becoming a king, so in his dream, he becomes a king. Similarly, a pretty girl might want to marry an extremely handsome man. So in her dreams, she sees herself becoming a queen. Effect of such dreams lasts as long as we are dreaming. Once the sleep is disturbed, these dreams and their effects also vanish altogether.
TIMING
OF THE DREAMS
During
the whole night’s sleep, a normal human being has five cycles of dreams. An
insane person can have even more up to fifteen cycles of dreams. Even a normal
person has a complete cargo of dreams if he is mentally disturbed or having
physical ailment. There are five distinct timings of the dreams. These are -
- First quarter
of the night that lasts one and a half to two hours.
- Second quarter
of the night that also lasts about two hours.
- Third quarter
of the night that has duration of two hours.
- Fourth quarter
of the night. It overlaps with dawn.
- Early morning.
Experts
and analysts of dreams believe that the dreams, which one has during the first
quarter of the night, take one year to show their effect. Dreams of the second
quarter manifest their effects within 8 to 10 months. Dreams of the third
quarter materialize within 3 to 5 months whereas dreams, which one has during
the fourth quarter or Brahma Muhurta, show their effects instantaneously or
within a month. Dreams of early morning period are virtually ineffective for
they are an outcome from state of half sleep.
Auspicious dreams: Sighting of cow, elephant, cadaver, girls, silver utensils
and ornaments, learned Brahmin, king, mourning in the home are considered as
auspicious signs. Moon, a tree in full bloom, beautiful garden, idols of deity
or great people, temple of Lord Shiva, oxen, chariot or other vehicle, lotus,
white cloth, astrologer, cotton, dancing troupe and book in the dream is
definitely an auspicious sign. Similarly, performing actions like touring
through the places of pilgrimage, conquering enemies, riding a horse, bathing in
sacred rivers and meeting ascetics in the dream also show auspicious sign. Apart
from these sighting of divine objects, eating rice and curd, drinking sherbet
and delivering lectures are also auspicious sign.
Inauspicious dreams: Dreams in which one sights a shriveled tree, ghost, giants,
dried well, or pond, buffalo, owl, burning pyre, solar eclipse, accident etc.
are definitely inauspicious. Similarly, wearing black or red clothes, getting
insulted, swallowing snake, eating meat, roaming with empty vessel, sticking of
mud on the body, getting stuck in the mud and riding camel, buffalo, or ass are
inauspicious signs.
Apart from these, sequences like theft of precious metal and gems, abduction of
wife, theft of shoes, sighting of shooting stars, drinking oil or ghee, sighting
bandwagon and marriage procession as well as sighting honey bees in the
courtyard, getting touched by a physician or a handicapped person etc. are
extremely inauspicious signs that our dreams might show us.
INTERPRETATION
OF DREAMS
Dream
world is indeed marvelous. No one can fathom it. Million kinds of sequences
appear in the dream but still these seem to be unending. Some of these sequences
do have definite indication but most of them are meaningless. It is not possible
to interpret all the sequences that more than six billion people of the world
see in their dreams nor it is possible to count all these sequences. Broadly,
the dream sequences can be divided into certain heads. Each of them has their
own indication. All other sequences have more or less similar indications
provided that they bear resemblance with these major sequences listed below -
- Sighting of
great people.
- Sighting of
temples and places of pilgrimage.
- Sighting of
holy objects and auspicious events.
- Sighting of
unholy objects and inauspicious events.
- Sighting of
violent animals.
- Sighting of
holy animals.
- Sighting of
strange looking people.
- Sighting of
strange events.
- Sighting of
losing and finding something.
- Sighting of
people dead long ago.
These
are major types of sequences one usually sees in his dreams. All the other types
of sequences revolve around these major types and hence have more or less
similar effects. While going through the current discussion, you will come to
learn a great deal of things about the omens related to the dreams. If you have
a dream that augurs well, we advise you not to sleep again after having that
dream in order to have its complete effect. Likewise, if you have an
inauspicious dream, fall asleep again to minimize its bad effects. There are
many more measures to minimize the bad effects of an inauspicious dream. We
shall discuss about them in subsequent chapters.
DREAMS
AND THIER EFFECTS
RESULTS
OF AUSPICIOUS DREAMS
Sighting
of great and holy people, temples, place of pilgrimage, auspicious objects,
birds and animals are considered good and such dreams as auspicious.
Sighting of great and holy people: Sighting of great and holy people in the
dream augurs well. Following is a discussion about different categories of great
and holy people.
- Sighting of
sages and ascetics: The dreamer might receive some auspicious news.
Receiving of gift from the sage in dream signifies even more auspiciousness.
- Sighting of
teacher: This is also an auspicious sign. Blessing by the Guru signifies
even more auspiciousness.
- Sighting of
astrologer: This signifies a sudden search in the fortune.
- Sighting of
the elders: This is a beneficial sign. A blessing by the elders in dreams
results into the fulfillments of desires.
- Sighting of
the king: This is also an auspicious sign that indicates fulfillments of
desires.
