3.11.2007
Kailashnatha temple, poetry in stone
Kailashnatha temple, Kanchipuram
Kailashnatha temple, a creation out of love to Lord Shiva lies in the scorching heat of Tamil landscape. Built during the reign of the Pallavas, this temple survived the ravages of war torn Tamil Nadu. Inscriptions in this temple suggest that the Chalukyas attacked Kanchipuram and Pulakesin won the battle leaving a mark on this temple with his sword.
Imagine this landscape with armies lined up outside with fluttering flags declaring a Chalukyan victory over the Pallavas. Deep within the cool interiors of this temple, a King worships the black faceted Lingam for this victory.
The Pallava queens patronized the smaller shrines outside, hosting smaller Shiva lingas with the Somaskanda panel in the background. Pulakesin put his signature over these walls, declaring his victory but did not have the temple pulled down to dust and rubble. There was mutual cultural respect in religion though there was hatred on the political front. The worst they could have done is probably replace the idols in this temple with those "Made in Chalukya land".
It is a showcase of evolution in architecture, directly after the Shore temple at Mahabalipuram in chronological order, from the Art History perspective. The inscriptions tells stories of tantrik practices as well as stories of the devotion of the faithful who donated various sculptures to the making of this temple.
Among the most common depictions of Shiva visible here in order of presentation are the Somaskanda panel depicting the Lord sitting with Parvati and Somaskanda their little son. Following it is Bhikshatana, another huge depiction of the naked mendicant, who seduced the wives of the rishis in a Brahmanical village. The only other strong reference made beyond Shiva is that of Durga who is depicted with her leg resting on the Lion.
The Linga embedded within the main shrine chamber as well as the smaller chambers around the temple are made of polished black stone imported into Kanchipuram. The Lingam within the temple is faceted, and a little too large for the chamber it is placed within.
The main vimana or roof of the temple, has been renovated and bears no resemblance to the original structure, thanks to ASI( Archaeological survey of India). This temple is the second in series to be built with a tall vimana and a rather insignificant gopuram(entrance way). Its unique architecture also displays a Lingam being consecrated with the chamber of the gopuram, an element of architecture which was never reproduced later.
Walking through the peace surrounded by these ancient walls, one can breathe in fresh air, potent with stories of ancient Tantrik faith which are not necessarily evil as projected. This temple brings alive a believe in the Mother goddess and Lord Shiva, a mixture that is too intoxicating within these walls, if you are emotional enough to feel its presence.
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Kavitha, as I had earlier also indicated, the ‘wise’ ancients used cryptic language to communicate the story of apparent evolution. During the peak of knowledge, they were ‘siddhas’ or all rounders, that is, highly advanced in all subjects and are at least accepted to have been highly advanced in Astronomy. They believed man to be a model of the universe, that is, ‘Brahmand’, literally Creator’s egg (the universe/ earth the ‘mithya jagat’ itself was believed to be illusory, believably being imaginary characters within Nadbindu’s head)!
With the above background, reading between the lines teh mythological stories etc, in the ‘apparnt present’ one could perhaps easily interpret Shiva-Parvati the most revered of God to mean our Earth-Moon - symbolically representing particular forms of energy evolved from the (black or dark-space-like) Goddess Kali that believably has ‘red tongue’ at Shiva’s heart, or centre of earth…with outer crust of earth as its umbrella!
And, similarly, ‘Hara’, literally meaning green as used for a male, was used as another name of Shiva (out of ‘shahastra’, or one thousand, and also the trouble shooter while ‘Hari’, a usage for feminine gender, was used for Formless Vishnu as the supreme form of Krishna). The afore-said therefore associated Green colour with Earth, and Yellow or the colour of gold was associated with Moon, as the Guru or superior one.
To explain the process of expansion of the universe, blue colour at the end far removed of red in the visible spectrum, that is, the blue colour (of the sky) was obviously associated with Kartikeya, who is shown to have (the blue coloured) Peacock as his vehicle! It is seen that astrologers associate blue colour as well as metal Iron - that was introduced by western invaders into ‘India’, where earlier an alloy of copper and some other metals, that is, bronze was used even for making swords - with the direction West as opposed to the red believably associated with East, as also reflected in worship of red-tongued Ma Kali in Bengal. And, Kartikeya, the eldest of Shiva-Parvati (Earth-Moon) also was referred as Somaskandha or the (right, physically powerful) shoulder of Parvati.
Also, our Sun (Brahma) is well known as the main source of energy on Earth. It is thus obvious that exploitation of energy in sunlight (seduction of wives of ‘brahmins’ by the mendicant) by all forms of life on earth was referred in ‘bhishatan’, thus reflecting the mischievous nature of believably Bholanath or 'Simple God' Shiva/ Natkhat Nandlal that is Krishna!
kavitha,good videoclip! I didnot understand the narration which I suppose is in Tamil,but could understand the essence of it due to your write up!Somaskanda is the equivalent of Ganesha Or Kartikeya?
What can be done to stop the ASI atrocities on the ancient temples?Most of the time they behave like ISI of our friendly neighbour
Hi,
Good Morning Joshi uncle and Anilji. I was just doubtful of one thing... did you by any chance get tamil script on the blog. In which case please refresh the page since its not supposed to be there.
I was experimenting with tamil script and made an accidental post which i had deleted. I would be surprised if it still appeared.
Joshi Uncle, what are the effects planets have on us? Say the moon, it seems to have more effect on us that we can imagine.
It seems to control our moods, events in our lives - small but not very pleasant - works on our minds... what is it about?
Regds
Kavitha
Somaskanda is the equivalent of Lord Karthikeya.
Forgot to mention this in my previous post.
regds
Kavitha
Anilji,
Didn't realize the audio was in tamil. Got your point now!
Regds
Kavitha
Kavitha, human brain is realized today as an analogous computer. Although we look with awe at the present day man-made computer, in comparison with human brain it is still at the ‘cave age’. However, although we have such a wonderful in-built computer, due to non availability of the related literature, we are unable to use it to its optimum capacity. Even otherwise, the ‘wise’ ancients had realized that in Kaliyuga the maximum potential that man can achieve is restricted to 25% of its original capacity!
Yes, Moon is known to have mysterious power, as seen even today in the production of high tides in the seas on full or new moon day.
And, as per the ancient scientists or Yogis, Moon’s (la lune’s, from which the word lunatic evolved, or Indu’s) essence is housed within human head at Sahasrara Bandha or “Thousand-channels (of energy) lock”, which at the beginning of Satyuga believably had 100% knowledge/ information about the material world, locked up or recorded within it (that had evolved from pure energy or Nadbindu to start with at the beginning of Kaliyuga originally from the basic lock or Mooladhar Bandha). But, with the apparent passage of time it is supposed to have reduced today to almost nought, or a range of 25%- 0% from one person to another as per some hierarchy - larger percentage of it having filtered down and different percentages of the total now locked up in the seven other locks believably located within the human body at different levels.
Broadly speaking, red colour is believably associated with bone, orange with bone marrow, yellow with fats, green with muscles, blue with nerves, white with blood…
Attempting to see apparently natural evolution through the eyes of the ancients, I would like to recall that when I was a young boy I had visited a ‘maunalaya’ or an apiary near Nainital where honey bees were cultured. An officer explained the various aspects of the management of the colonies of bees, each one of which generally has a queen, many infertile female workers, drones, that is, male honey bees, and a brood of eggs, larvae, and pupae. He told us an interesting fact, that a new queen bee, after finishing off its rivals, flies high into the sky and is chased by the drones. And, only the fittest among them gets to mate with the queen bee, but loses its organ after mating and dies!
In view of the above, as also seen earlier in the reported case of spiders, competition between different suitors, as reported among humans also in the past, believably is mother nature’s way to ensure a good brood of the animal forms and could perhaps be seen as a part of nature’s design, at least during Satyuga, Tretayuga and Dwaperyuga, and, similarly, the ancient traditional practice of a Hindu brahmachari or disciplined young man’s marriage with a similarly disciplined woman for life-long companionship - like Earth-Moon/ Mahesha-Parvati, symbolically represented through Shivalinga representing the unborn placed in a slot representing Parvati’s yoni in the garbha-griha, and perhaps that’s why the practice of lingam at the entry or Gopuram wasn’t continued as mentioned by Kavitha - reflected the ideal role models, for ensuring healthy offsprings, for man was considered to head the list of the animal world, perhaps only after the apparent chaos during Kaliyuga at the beginning of which random role models of various physical forms from spiritual form had just begun in apparent time!
The apparent confusion one, or an individual soul as part of the same believable 'store-house', apparently experiences today could perhaps be visualized by observing/ imagining a functional man-made fountain, say.
At any apparent time one would find innumerable drops of water (souls) everywhere - near the nozzle or zero location up to a particular height (depending on the pressure maintained in the fountain) and also in all directions in innumerable parabolic arcs down to the basin below, available once again after lapse of some time for recycling till the source of energy, say sun, responsible for those cycles lasts or is deliberately switched off by the person in-charge, say the Supreme soul!
It is perhaps obvious that when man apparently advanced in the control and use of river water for various pourposes, the first man who would have designed the water-fountain must have been inspired by the naturally existing geysers, although available only at a few locations on earth...
Similarly, natural geysers might also have inspired the ancient Yogis to realize a similar phenomenon occurring inside human body too, that is, a variety of information believably recorded in lower ‘bandhas’ or locks to rise to the ‘bandha’ in the head (‘Sahasrara’ or the generally nearly empty house of the essence of Moon in Kaliyuga) at the same time and thus the apparent confusion – like having to pick up a card from the pack offered by a magician. And, although the concerned individual at any given time apparently becomes conscious of the process - because of believable appearance of a number of thoughts inside one’s head even in respect of the smallest issue under consideration – the person might continue to believe oneself as the ‘decision maker’ of the action that follows thereafter.
However, the Yogis appear to have realized the phenomenon as natural, like the functioning of ‘natural’ geysers believably is the handiwork of the ‘panchbhootas’, but an average person fails to realize it believably on account of lack of overall knowledge – expressed as ‘Creator’s maya’ (e.g., Kavitha decided to delete the Tamil version of the video, however, instead she selected it!)
Human brain’s marvelous working can be visualized through many day-to-day routine functions as seen above. For example, take the case of separation of peas from its shells and keeping the peas in a separate vessel while throwing away the shells in a garbage can.
Whenever I sat down to do this mechanically repetitive function, I would find myself starting it correctly but getting lost in some other thoughts after some time, which would suddenly get interrupted and I would find that I had thrown the peas in the garbage can and the empty shells in the vessel meant for the peas!
I would like to cite as example the following verses from the Gita, from Chapter IX that has believably been realized by the wise ancients to express the sovereign science and secret, which could perhaps be seen in the simple example of water-fountain also.
“Arjuna, during the Final Dissolution all beings enter My Prakriti (the prime cause), and at the beginning of creation, I send them forth again”. (7)
“Wielding My Nature I release, again and again all this multitude of beings subject to the influence of their own nature”. (8)
“Arjuna, with Me as the supervisor, Nature brings forth the whole creation, consisting of both sentient and insentient beings; it is due to this cause that the wheel of the Samsara is going round”. (10)
As I had perhaps indicated earlier also, I had tried reading the Gita after someone had unexpectedly presented a copy of it to me. But, I couldn’t proceed beyond the first chapter even. It was only after over 9 years of receiving it, over two decades ago, that I actually read it (the verses translated into English), for during those nine years I had mixed experiences of ‘physical’ hardship on one hand and ‘spiritual’ wonder on the other that gave rise to so many unanswered questions despite my apparent training in ‘Science’ and its application too. And, only then I believe I could realize the wisdom of ancient Hindus, that is, my ancestors, who believed that one has to seek the ‘truth’ on one’s own.
The Gita indicated the primary requirement as ‘surrender in Krishna’, that is keep on hold for some time what all you have learnt till then, particularly through the apparent teaching you have received through the west; unless you felt it was the ‘truth’, which according to the wise ancients was that which is true over long apparent duration of time (“Satyameva Jayate, i.e., Truth ever prevails”)!
And, I found “Satyam Shivam Sunderam” perhaps as the briefest possible communication pointing towards Earth as the ‘Truth’, and to its centre (Nadbindu)/ the Supreme form of Krishna as the ‘Absolute Truth’ represented through Shivalinga, which helped divert the attention from the truth, generally of the westerner, and of those in the east too who choose to blindly copy them!
As I had said earlier also, in the Gita, the ‘wise’ ancients have indicated that the only purpose of man is to realize the Formless God as well as the Gods with forms.
They have, however, also indicated all the physical forms in the infinite universe to be the innumerable different looking images of ‘Krishna’ (meaning ‘Black’ in Sanskrit) as the reincarnation of Formless Vishnu Himself in their apparent exterior material forms that in fact were all illusory or ‘mayavi’ (as perhaps reflected in the human dreams too as a reflection of Vishnu's believable thoughts in Yoganidra or super conscious)!
The above could perhaps be visualized today with the help of different looking images of the same individual that could be made to appear in a number of ‘magical mirrors’ at any given instant, for the real time believably is zero!
And, with the help of apparent photographs of the same individual collected from the birth to the ‘present’, that apparently show the same person evolving from an infant to different appearances over different instances of time (as we believably reckon it based on relative motions of perhaps illusory Sun, and Earth the ‘mithya jagat’ that apparently didn’t ever exist and could just be imagined by Nadbindu or the Formless Creator)!
‘Scientists’ today can apparently explain the chain reaction, which is exothermic, that is, it results in a great amount of heat energy, and that it has believably been taking place for over 4 billion years in our Sun, an average star, just as it is also apparently happening in all other bigger stars in the universe that apparently ‘fill up the blank’ of dark space within our galaxy or in any of the innumerable galaxies in the universe.
In this process, Hydrogen is apparently getting converted into inert Helium gas that believably forms the (human-skin-like, as its model) cover for the balance stock of Hydrogen gas entrapped within the core… However, they aren’t able to explain who trigerred the chain reaction at the first instance!
In the Gita, ‘Krishna’ claims Himself to be the one and only Formless, as well as beings with forms, living or non-living as the essence in the verse (19.IX) given below.
“I radiate heat as the sun, and holdback as well as send forth showers, Arjuna. I am immortality as well as death; even so I am being and non-being both.”
The above explains the process of life-sustaining water-cycle on earth, with Krishna or Black Hole, as the life sustaining energy as well as a physical agent of death, (incarnation of Vishnu that is Visha, meaning poison, plus Anu, meaning atom, that is Nadbindu), at the centre of our galaxy of innumerable stars and other heavenly bodies, such as planets – the galaxy being considered as a single entity, and includes our earth (mrityulok where all temporary life forms appear to eventually merge with earth itself), that is, life-giving Gangadhara Shiva as well as our Sun that is Brahma, together with other planets as devtas or demi-gods, lower in hierarchy. Thus all the three physical aspects of the Formless Creator, governed by zero time and space, apparently have both positive as well as negative aspects as believably seen in ‘apparent time’ by the nnumerable 'images' of God!
And hence the exclamation by some 'wise' sage, "Shivoham/ Tat twam asi!" That is, "I am Shiva/ So are you!"
A ‘real’ story, though with unpleasant ending, on illusion recounted during college days to me by one of our Sikh friends, a student of Pharmacy, who had become a ‘mona’ or clean shaved initially, such that we couldn’t recognize him when we saw him at the beginning of the second year in college - till he spoke to us. He was, however, obliged to grow beard, and locks on his head again, as we saw him at the beginning of the year next!
A Sikh friend of his was sponsored by some religious sect for advance study in the USA in the late Fifties. The boy personally, however, was of ‘modern thoughts’, or not that orthodox and, therefore, decided to shave off his beard and locks of hair on the head. But, being conscious of the practice in the family for generations, before getting it done in the USA, he got a number of photographs snapped in different dresses in some studios.
For quite some time he went on sending one of those photos home to his parents. Everything went on smoothly for many months. However, due to his bad luck, a member of the organisation that had sponsored him happened to visit the same place in the USA and saw him as a clean-shaved person!
The poor boy’s scholarship was forfeited and he had to return home, his study curtailed in the middle!
In India, on the night of Deepavali (also called 'Diwali', or ‘Kali puja’, in Bengal) besides lighting up of rows of divas or earthen lamps (using mustard oil), crackers are exploded, and many fireworks are lighted, which includes ‘anar’ or a promegnate shaped (red coloured fruit) earthen firework that produces a similar effect like that of a water fountain through sparkles instead of water...
During our childhood, the ingredients for preparing anars were easily available in Delhi, and we made them in large numbers during many Diwali festival days - thanks to a senior Bengali boy who used to win first prize in competitions held every year in the local Kali Bari (Kali Temple) providing us the right proportions and the methodology - as those used to work out cheaper…
Now, looking back, I can see the significance of ‘explosion’ as the apparent reflection of only the outward movement in 'apparent time' (of the resultant 'debris-like') matter of the universe starting from the believable ‘Brahmanad’ that is Big Bang.
And, ‘implosion’ of the debris, like that believably results in zero mass ‘Black Hole’ is left to the imagination of the ‘seeker’ to reach the Absolute Truth or the mischievous Formless Creator! And, thus the intended meaning of the advice to ‘look inwards’!
I am sorry, Kavitha, I have (effect of moon!) wrongly written ‘Anar’ in Hindi to mean wrongly spelt ‘promegnate’, instead of the correct spelling ‘pomegranate’, the dictionary meaning of which reads: A globe-shaped edible fruit as large as an orange, having a reddish, hard rind filled with a tasty red, many-seeded pulp… It would also help visualize the firework as a model of the naturally erupting volcano, also provided by ‘Nature’ in the form of a red coloured fruit while the Hindus symbolically depict Ma Kali with Her red tongue projected out, with Her foot accidentally placed on the chest of Shiva (rpresenting red lava flow on the surface of earth from an active volcano)!
In the Gita, the ‘wisest’ amongst the ancient Hindus (when they were generally at the peak of overall knowledge) have indicated that anybody can at least reach ‘Yogiraja Krishna’, the re-incarnation or model of ‘Supreme Knowledge’, i.e., Formless or Nirakar Vishnu/ Shiva that is zero time and space, Nadbindu the ‘Absolute truth’ etc. who is represented symbolically by sound energy ‘OM’ and graphically by the numeral 3 (three) to reflect its three aspects: of creation of illusory forms; their sustenance in ‘apparent time’; and ultimate apparent destruction (the ‘drama’ believably lasting over 4 billion years as one day in the life of immortal ‘Brahma’ the sun) – within zero time for believably the unborn and unending Creator though!
Talking of sound energy, any singer, therefore, can visualize (his/ her) zero that is the ‘truth’ represented by his basic note, (which might vary from one person to another – generally the pitch being higher for females), from which, during a rendition of a raga, or even some ‘pop song’, or even in one's speech, he/ she either ascends of descends (withn the three octaves that define the boundary conditions of one’s reach - up or down), over a certain duration of ‘apparent time’ only (just as an individual starts from his temporary abode to one’s place of work/ pilgrimage and back home, or even like the swinging pendulum/ cradle that, however, remains still as long as the child remains in the state of sleep, maybe originally induced by mother’s lullaby - with Yashoda & child Krishna as the role model visualized by the Vaishnavites)…And so on.
Any one could find out some model in ‘Nature’ depicting the ‘Truth’, for the ancients said, “Hari ananta/ Hari katha ananta.”
In very brief, near zero could be visualized as any point on our earth, wherever anyone is located, and the absolute zero a few thousand miles/ kilometer below the surface, at the centre of the earth, which according to the Yogis is represented in the human body by the distance between the Ajna Chakra or 'third eye' level (where analysis of information received in the ‘Sahasrara Bandha’ is carried out) and one’s seat (where most of the information in the ‘Mooladhar Bandha’ is believably stored)…
And, maybe in the Kaliyuga, because of being seated on a higher pedestal (a chair/ sofa/ a space-ship even) we have perhaps distanced ourselves from the surface/ centre of earth, i.e., from the ‘Truth’ as well as the ‘Absolute Truth’!
A yogi apparently sat cross legged in ‘Padmasan’, or ‘lotus pose’, directly on earth, maybe using a mat or an animal skin, for Yogeshwar Shiva, of course, with His trident readily available near Him for security purposes believably wore a tiger’s skin (perhaps referring to earth’s outer crust - as the model of the fabric believed even today at the outer edge of the balloon-like expanding universe - while believably immortal moon-earth was referred as the ‘Ashtabhujadhari Durga on Her Tiger’, or eight-handed Goddess!)
With the above in mind, perhaps one can visualize from, say, the example of a politician why the concerned individual today is generally associated, in lighter vein, with his chair that is symbolic of the ‘truth’ or earth that one is attached to because of believable ‘Maya’, such that the individual generally is seen to go to any extent to save it!
And also, ‘Durga’ means a ‘fort’ as a representation of protective‘energy’ or ‘shakti’, that is, Shiva’s consort Sati, which is perhaps reflected today in commandos engaged for providing a fort-like protection to politician’s person!
Scientists today are reportedly engaged in research to know why earth’s crust, measuring some thousands of square kilometers, which generally measures about 8 km thick elsewhere - located 3 km below the Atlantic Sea along the boundary of African and North Amercian plates - is missing such that generally about 2,900 km thick mantle overlying earth’s iron-rich core has come to be so close to the surface in that area in the sea-bed.
It is interesting to learn that some scientists believe the lost continent, Atlantis, that once was inhabited by a highly advanced civilization to have existed at that location a few thousand years ago, which believably resulted in hot water currents that existed between it and Africa consequently to have rushed to the shores of North America and expose the land, which till then had lain covered by a thick carpet of snow and therefore uninhabited by civilized man!
And interestingly, Hindu Mythological stories cryptically indicate King Mahabali (and there is an island by the name of Bali in Indonesia even today while there is reference of a character by the same name, as the twin-brother of Sugriva, who was deceptively killed by Lord Rama in Tretayuga!) to have been sent to ‘patal-lok’ or the nether world by Vishnu’s re-incanation, Vamanavatar, a small Brahmin who grew large (perhaps referring to Himalayas’ emergence from under the sea on the North of Jambudweep, the island that ‘India’ once upon a time was!)
Our earth, that is, Shiva the believable Bholanath apparently can perhaps therefore be visualized as the Supreme form of ‘Natkhat’ or mischievous Krishna the Nandlal as indicated in the Gita, as also the model of the Formless Creator and, therefore, understood as ‘mithya jagat’ or illusory earth/ universe!
There is a saying, “Old order changes/ yielding place to new.” This constantly changing nature of our earth has apparently been seen by humans through various generations since time immemorial, which is perhaps also seen reflected during one life-time of any individual at any time also with continuous change in one’s surroundings - some of which are drastic and, therefore, easily appreciable while some occur gradually and, therefore, aren’t noticed with a superficial glance. One, therefore, generally takes our earth for granted, as a ‘non-living’ being meant for exploitation by animal life that inhabits it under the leadership of man as the superior most life!
As Sant Tulsidas, although not a ‘scientist’, also seems to have understood human life as a drama of ‘panchabhoota’, he has cryptically conveyed the truth (passed over generations since time immemorial) through the character of Lord Rama (‘Suryavanshi’ king or a model of our Sun in Tretayuga born near Kashi at Ayodhya) asking his younger brother Lakshamana, (a model of our earth for, like us terrestrials ever see only one side of moon, he saw only the feet of Sita and not her face!), to hand him over the arrow that would dry up the seawater (indicating opening of the ozone layer or ‘Shiva’s third eye’!), because the demi-god responsible for seas, Varuna, didn’t allow the ‘vanar sena’ that is the ‘monkey army’ led by King (enthroned after brother Bali’s death) Sugriva’s army General, Hanuman the son of Anjaneya (meaning black or dark space, like mascara) and Vayu (meaning life sustaining ‘air’)!
Rama reportedly indicated the overpowering instinct of fear of death in animal life forms by adding, “Bhaya bin ho-woo na preeti,” meaning that without fear there is no reverence, thereby implying that it is fear that is the cause of insecurity and, therefore, of apparent love or unity between animals despite diversity on account of variety as apparent in all aspects of ‘Nature’, perhaps as part of a grand design.
In the present this instinct is reflected in the ‘scientists’ now suggesting the concerned to hurry up so that one could escape (Noah-like) to a more secure planet than our earth!
So long as many ‘inferior’ life forms were apparently becoming obsolete on our planet earth, because of his actions, man wasn’t bothered. But, now, there apparently are indications that (with frequent appearances of more destructive Earthquakes/ Tsunamis, Avalanches, Tornados, pollution of ‘air’ and ‘water’, and so on) it is rapidly heading towards ‘pralaya’, or doom’s day, to thereby render all life forms, including human’s, extinct upon it - of course, believably thanks to actions performed by the ‘modern man’ in the recent past, which in the words of the wise ancients (in the Gita, for example) were apparently due to lack of overall knowledge and in order to reach ‘Supreme Knowledge’ (Formless Shiva/ Vishnu) one needed to surrender in Krishna!
Thanks to Shiva the Bhootnath (lord of the past) that He also communicated through some ‘wise’ characters in the drama - as some of His Own innumerable images, or rare Gurus, who appear from time to time to communicate the truth - that it is all part of a ‘flash back’ of the happenings in the past that is being seen by Him through apparently different eyes!
Also, the ‘Absolute truth’ of His being alone and formless (as zero time and space) is communicated through the believable ‘adwait-vad’, that is, the philosophy of ‘Vedanta’, as the believable arrival at the ultimate conclusion that whatever Vedas believably communicate as ‘truths’ are in reality ‘untruths’, because of Creator’s ‘Maya’ or illusion, seen through different eyes in ‘apparent time’, which in fact man is apparently viewing as moving from a perfect material stage down to the absolutely imperfect stage or purely ‘spiritual’ stage. However, unfortunately for average man, those who are at the helm of the affairs at any given time are apparently always facing the peak of the hill even while one is moving downhill and isn’t therefore aware of his actual destination, (and perhaps hence the use of the word ‘destiny’), and wondering all the while why one isn’t able to reach the peak!
It is therefore believably, according to teh 'wise' ancients, just a matter of change in mental attitude or turning the head towards the direction towards which one is actually moving!
In continuation, although today one might not know how the practice came to be adopted, a detached observer would perhaps notice that after one has finished the rituals related with the prayer of the deity within the ‘garbha-griha’, or sanctum sanctorum, a devotee while he/ she remains facing the idol he/ she moves backward towards the exit end (justifying it perhaps with the belief that it is inappropriate to show one’s back to God - and on the other hand God is believed to be omnipresent! Perhaps the phenomenon is similar to Sant Kabir believably making fun of the Muslims for objecting to his sleeping with his feet towards west, where Holy Mecca/ Medina are located!)
Thus, in an attempt to realize it, I have come to believe the practice to be related with Bhootnath - for, as communicated by the ‘wise’ ancients He is believably viewing His material advancement backward, from Satyuga to the end of Kaliyuga, that is, the believable zero or ‘spiritual’ beginning where the Formless is located today (or in fact ever, time as well phycial forms also being illusory). As reflected in a mountaineer apparently returning back to the base camp after he has conquered the peak, which is perhaps also reflected in the steps of evolution of temples as indicated by Kavitha from Mahabalipuram to Kailashnath Temple!
Wonderful blog! Look forward to learning more.
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