Omkareshwar by the river Narmada
The peace of the night descended as Srinivasan walked down to the banks of the Narmada at Omkareshwar. Across the river, covered in a veil of lights stood the main temple housing the Jyothir Linga. At his feet were the still and gentle waters of the Narmada, ripples that whispered a lot more in the deafening silence. These waters flowed from the very being of Lord Shiva, and as they did they carved out the bed rock into tiny forms of the Lord himself, into Bana Lingas that drew the essence of worship from other worlds within themselves.Srinivasan recited a Shloka to himself, the origin of which was in folk lore as he pondered:
gangA gItA ca gAyatrI govindeti catuShTayaM |
Catur-gakAra-samyukte punar-janma na vidyate ||
That which started with the syllable "ga" meant emerging forth and being constantly present. As the verse goes, Ganga, Gita, Gayatri and Govinda are constants. In fact the very meaning of Linga in the Agama context signifies "ling" which means to destroy and "ga" which is to emerge. Bana Lingas emerge as natural swayambhuva Shiva Lingas. These are found only in the Narmada river bed and are very sacred stones as they contain the very form and energy of Lord Shiva similar to Jyothir Lingas. They are naturally powerful and hold the essence of divinity within them.
According to the Aparajita-pariprchchha (205, 1-26) there is mythology attached to the Bana Lingas association with the Narmada River. It is believed that when Lord Shiva destroyed the flying city of Tripura (Tripurantakamurthy) which had been obtained by the arrogant demon Banasura, He let go a fiery dart from his bow - Pinaka. This destroyed the three cities into tiny bits, which fell in three spots - on the hills in Sri-kshetra (of unknown identity), on the peaks of Amarkantak in the Vindhya range, and on the banks of the holy river Narmada. These soon multiplied into crores of Lingas and as they were part of the possession of Banasura, they came to be called Bana Lingas. The Padma Purana reveals that the holy river of Narmada has many ghats all of which are associated with Bana Lingas and Raudra Lingas.
Bana is also known to be the eldest son of Bali, who in turn was the son of Virochana and the grandson of Prahalada who was the son of Hiranyakashipu and a great devotee of Narasimha. Banasura himself was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and having done severe penance Shiva granted him in the form of Natural Lingas - Bana Lingas (banrchartham krtam lingam).
Srinivasan watched the silent ripples wash the shores and wondered in amazement over the potency of these waters. These waters protected rounded bed rock within its darkness, that when polished revealed to us, their beauty within. He pulled out a Bana Linga from his pocket and stared at it closely. The Siddhanta Sekhara (an astronomical work by Sripati in 1039 cen A.D.) revealed that the Bana Lingas have already been worshiped by deities and contain the impress of their worship visible in the marks on the Lingas:
Lotus mark (padma) reveals it was worshipped by Brahma
Mark of a parasol (chhatra) indicated Indra
Mark of two heads (siro-yugma) indicated Agni
Three steps (Pada) mark indicated it was Yama
Mark of a mace (Gada) indicated Isana Shiva
Mark of a water vessel (kalasha) indicated varuna
A banner mark (dhwaja) indicated the energy of Vayu
This rendered Bana Lingas as Daiva lingas and hence these Bana Lingas are considered extremely superior compare to other lingas.
The power of the Bana Lingas is felt in a few conditions. A Bana Linga, carrying the marks of Indra when worshipped fulfills all the desires of the devotee and bestows upon him respect and wealth. The Agneya variety of the Bana Linga is warm to touch, and contains the marks of Shakti's weapon. The Yamya Linga has the forms of a cudgel or that of a tongue. The nairutti Linga appears like a sword and carries stains on its body and bestows the benefits of gyana and yoga; however it should not be worshiped by a Grihasta (householder). The Varuna Lingas are round in shape and can be distinguished by the marks of a noose (pasa) and it is worshipped to secure wealth and prosperity. Lingas that signify the energy of vayu are black or ash gray in color and carry a flag post symbol on its head. The Kubera Linga also has the form of a mace (gada) or arrow (tuna) depicted by a hairline like line in the center. The Raudra Lingas are lustrous like a block of ice but bear the marks of a bone or spear. Vishnu's symbols could range from conch shell (samkhabha-mastaka), discus, mace, to the jewel on the chest (sri-vatsa and kaustubha) or foot print.
Srinivasan recollected the ancient verses of Adi Shankaracharya. In the ancient days all cults, namely those of Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Devi and Surya were independent and fighting for supremacy till Adi Shankaracharya set the rules to unite all of them. The result was the performance of the Panchayatana puja, by the Smartas towards their Ishta Devata, that deity being placed as the central altar. Each deity was represented in that aniconic form. This was the worship of the 5 sacred altars. In this orthodox tradition initiated by Adi Shankaracharya, five stones each representing the respective deities are placed on the sacred altar for the Panchayatana worship.
Sun God Surya is represented by a crystal found in Vallam in Tamil NaduMother Goddess Shakti is represented by the Swarnamukhi stone found in Swarnamukhi river in Andhra Pradesh
Vishnu is represented through Salagramas found only in the Ghantaki river in the Himalayas
Ganesha is represented by the red Shonabhadra stone found in the river bed of the Sone river flowing into the Ganges.
Shiva is represented by the Bana Lingas found in the Narmada river bed near the island of Mandhata.
Different sets of rules apply to the Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprastha and the Sanyasa.
Srinivasan got up to leave these waters, reliving his darshan of Narmada Bana Lingas at other potent Shrines. Here was the ancient belief and promise to a pious and happy existence, and across these waters Srinivasan could see the new world of dams almost submerging all of this reality into the depths of the raging Narmada. Would all this just come to an end? Would this knowledge be submerged into the depths of time and ignorance?
Click on photos to view enlarged picture
Shankaracharya Temple
Brihadeshwara Tanjore Temple
Somnath Jyothir Linga
Kashi Vishwanath Varanasi
Other related topics:
The meaning of Jyotir Linga
Jyothir linga Somanatham - The moon descends to earth
Jyotir Linga Omkareswar and Amaleshwar in the Vindhya hills
Jyotirlinga - Kasi Vishwanath, Varanasi
Temple of a saint - Adi Shankaracharya
Courtesy photos and original content:
Shlokas and meaning: Copyright© V. Krishnamurthy
Last updated Oct 2005. Copyright Ajit Krishnan [ 1999 - 2005 ]
mukti4u2.dk/Narmada_river
34 comments:
(Reading between the lines) The basic thought of the ancient Hindus revolves around the three axes of development that define the three dimensions originating from a dot (like a ‘ban’ issuing from Lord Rama’s bow, that is, an arrow representing sunlight since time immemorial) and ending in it or arriving there again that define any and all physical forms (which also reflects the apparent hierarchy between those in cycles thereof eternally) made from ‘panch-tatvas’ or ‘panch-bhootas’ the ‘five elements’ that exist since time immemorial after their roles in a particular form is over (‘gaman’ in Sanskrit means departure, from a point at any location, say on the globe. And, ‘agaman’ means arrival at the referred point)…The five points that define a pyramid (fire within) are understood to reflect the five elements: Sky or space; Gangadhar that is the sacred Ganga-water holding earth (reflecting the evolved most at the end of Satyuga); fire or energy; air that fills the sky (which is ruled by Sun during the day and by Moon during the night); and Yamuna water (reflecting the ‘poison’ that ruled at the start of evolution)…
As an extension of the same thought, ‘Trimurty Shiva’ indicates three aspects of any physical form, the three-axes referred as creation, sustenance in that form and destruction (resulting every time in a different image of Bhootnath Shiva, i.e., a ‘bhoota’, also translated as a ‘ghost’) with some definite purpose in mind by one and only Nadbindu Vishnu whose image Trimurty also is) - with a view to transformation to another form, immediately or after a certain duration, after its role ends in that form…and thus remain in the Time cycle or ‘Kal-chakra’…till it attains ‘moksha’ or salvation…
The essence, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” conveys that languages also would have evolved with time, starting from ‘maun’, (that is silence, the root word for a sage called ‘Muni’), depending on the need felt by the inhabitant of a particular region from time to time, and hence the apparent grand variety even in languages and in the apparent hierarchy. In this process, apparently Sanskrit evolved in ancient ‘India’ where in-depth studies were apparently conducted in all aspects of ‘Nature’…and due to the believable characteristics of time, whose controller believably is the most evolved form of Shiva, however starting as Bhairava in the beginning, that is, his fiery form as the root cause of ‘Nature’, who was therefore called Mahakal, besides many other names given to reflect its various forms, and in essence the most evolved form was also called Mahesha the God of gods by the ‘wise ancient Hindus’, the word derived from ‘Indu’ the Moon as one of the components of earth that is Shiva in physical form. Hindus believed essence of Moon to be located in the head of humans as part of a grand design, which however held nil energy/ knowledge in the beginning of the ‘churning of the Milky Ocean’, the total at that time believably held in the essence of Mars, located at the base or ‘mooladhar chakra’, which got completely transferred to the head only at the end of the Satyuga. The process perhaps requires activation of the gray cells in the head, as one finds man to do when attempting to explain the process of building the pyramid, in Egypt, high temples in South India, or even finding signs of huge boulders moved from foothills to their high level tops…Highly elevated souls or Yogis, inspired by high peaks of Himalayas, similarly activated ‘kundalini’ and moved total energy/ total information recorded in ‘chakras’ to the head, most of it being believably held locked up in ‘mooladhar’ and also some in the intermediate ‘chakras’, in Kaliyuga…
With reference to ‘present day India’ in the believable Kaliyuga, as ‘I’ had discussed it earlier also, Shiva can be visualized to recline in NW-SE direction, such that SW and NE directions could be imagined as His two hands that He uses through the agenciy of the ‘panch-bhootas’ for churning the waters of the Arabian Sea in the Southwest coastal region close to Mumbai for the yearly SW monsoon responsible for ‘India’ to be called the ‘golden bird’ (whereas, Vishnu/ Krishna is believed to recline in West-East direction along the Himalayas, and therefore evolved Vishnu/ Bhootnath Shiva’s ‘mooladhar’ can be visualized to be housed in the lower Himalayas in the northeastern region as indicated in the mythological stories, related with Sati the original consort of Shiva, to lie near Guwahati on the banks of River Brahmaputra, another form of River Saraswati, consort of Brahma that disappeared from the Prayag region and reappeared in the northeast region of ‘India’)…
The stories also indicate Jambudweep, an island before emergence of the Himalayas in the North to have been the original ‘India’. Thus at some stage the rivers in its NW region apparently drained into the Arabian Sea. And, at that stage the Vidhyas were the highest hill range in the South Indian region in ‘India’ with Narmada River formed due to appearance of ‘sweat’ on the body of Shiva (the earth) in Amarkund near its origin at Amarkantak and received similar status as the Ganges…and young Krishna, born on the banks of River Yamuna, is thus believed to have been educated in Sage Sandipni’s hermitage in this region before graduating to rule his empire from Dwarika in Gujarat…
Maybe what ‘I’ have indicated in the comments above might help a seeker to visualize, with the background belief of Brahma (Sun) shown seated over seat formed by a lotus flower that evolved from Vishnu’s navel, and also Durga as the mother of Ganesha, what you have stated, “…In this orthodox tradition initiated by Adi Shankaracharya, five stones each representing the respective deities are placed on the sacred altar for the Panchayatana worship…”, i.e., Vishnu at the NW corner, while Brahma is located at the SE corner opposite it. And, Ganesh at the NE corner located opposite of Durga in the SW corner – the four representatives as the ‘chaturbhuja’ or square base of the pyramid, while another point forms the pyramid’s peak (Ishana), the eventual summit as the goal reached by the end of Satyuga…
A square, in Hindi ‘chaturbhuj’, literally is represented by a figure that has four (equal) arms. And the ancient ‘Hindus’, similarly expressed Shiva as well as Vishnu both as four-handed, and also it was said, “Shiva is Vishnu and Vishnu is Shiva”…Also, Brahma is called ‘chaturmukhi’ that is four-faced, while Vishnu (therefore Shiva too) is indicated in the Gita [referred also in the shloka Kavitha has also indicated as ga-akar, besides Gayatri, Ganga, and Govinda associated with Gita, i.e., all the four starting with ‘G’, like ‘gita’ meaning a song, thus conveying ‘OM’ as the basic energy some of which - in its innumerable components - is converted into matter for viewing energy in some physical shape, i.e., ‘akar’, the apparent variety in the universe indicting the appearance of hierarchical formation at any given time as part of a grand design], to have innumerable mouths and eyes – perhaps thus pointing towards those of the various animals that inhabit earth (body of Shiva the Destroyer!)…Realizing the ‘Truth’, that is existence of Destroyer Shiva reflected in the form of four handed Natraj due to ‘Maya’, Arjuna lost fear of death to all his kith and kin, as well as himself, and he was pepped up to live life like a witness that is spectator only…as advised to all in the Gita…
With the given background that shivlingas represent the Formless Shiva, smoothened by flowing water, (compared with ‘ban’ that is arrows as a simile), a variety of stones are being worshipped since time immemorial by different people in different rivers all over ‘India’, including use of gemstones for improving one’s efficiency. However, the vedantis realized the Creator to be Formless and all apparent forms as its images. They thus attempted to reach the essence of the various truth to reach the absolute truth – the formless energy reflected by air and water that is fluids, which take the shape of the vessel in which they are contained! And pursuing such thoughts Yogis understood human form made up of eight dots housed at different locations and there eight varieties reflected in eight directions to suggest human body formed of 64 Yoginis that helped the average man to get influenced by the Yogamaya of Krishna, the hero of the Gita, ‘the song of the God’, that is, Bhagavad Gita!
And Maya that is illusion’s best example ‘today’ is cinema: A film recorded in the ‘past’, based on fictitious characters and events, appears fresh or new, to one who hasn’t already seen it, every time it is projected on the ‘silver screen’ etc. (i.e., by an ‘imperfect man’ in Kaliyuga and seen by ‘imperfect man’ for IT is still evolving!) the apparent ‘future’ (which itself is ‘past’ (as per ‘wise ancient ‘Hindus’)!
Kavitha, (If you find time to read 'my' comments!), in view of the above, could it merely be a ‘coincidence’ - and not a ‘design’ – that Bollywood is located in the SW direction of ‘India’ (represented by the web-spinner spider-like eight handed Durga!), while similarly Hollywood is located in the same direction in America!?
And, perhaps therefore, on account of Neelamber Krishna believably, as per ancient Hindus, ruling the ‘west’ find poisonous tarantula in America! (Tarantula: Any of various spiders, usu., large and hairy, which have a painful although not very poisonous bite and are common in the southwestern U.S.)
Talking of ‘ban’ that is arrows, thanks to some TV channel, while surfing ‘I’ recently happened to see for a short time how some family at Dwarika received from Adi Shankara the responsibility for providing and maintaining ‘dhwaja’ that is flags that are hoisted daily over the Somnath Temple, (perhaps three times a day), at certain particular hours, since long…The multi-colour flags, which include blue colour also, are long (40 feet?) and triangular in shape, such that when they fluttered with the wind, they appeared to ‘me’ like an arrow-head. And, our National flag, the tricolour, following the ‘present day’ trends is rectangular in shape and doesn’t have blue colour strip and, instead, has compound, that is, ‘neutral colour’ strips of cloths to convey a sense of detachment, practicing Yoga with attachment indicated thanks to the blue chakra in the middle, as a reflection of time cycle/ ‘sudershan chakra’ of ‘Neelamber’ Krishna/ Vishnu, reflected by the double colour planet Saturn, as well as Jupiter, ie, Brihaspati, the Guru, and also Uranus and Neptune have the rings)!
The best example of ‘arrows of water’ moving skywards (‘gaman’) and then returning back to ground (‘agaman’) can perhaps be seen in natural geysers, for example, ‘The Old Faithful’, by visitors to the Yellow Stone National Park in USA; or by anyone anywhere in the man-made fountains – where water shoots out from the nozzle and after reaching the peak height, returns to the pool from where the water is pumped again and again…thanks to energy provided by electricity…
Similarly, the diwali cracker called ‘anar’, in the shape of the fruit pomegranate, also could be said to function like a fountain, of fire shooting like arrows skywards…in place of water…reflecting the behaviour of an active volcano as its prototype!
Thus formless Shiva is imagined represented in physical form by the ‘panchbhootas’, visualized in the form of Shivalinga of air, water, fire etc…its influence thus extending to infinity...as all forms are believed to have the 'panchbhootas'...
Personally, perhaps as an example of mischievous style of functioning of ‘Krishna’, last Sunday ‘I’ happened to see a transparent shivalinga of flowing water generated with the help of a low water fountain near the reception room of Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi.
[‘I’ had actually been there with a couple to visit an ‘education camp’ that some friends of theirs apparently saw publicized in the local newspaper to take place there on Saturday and Sunday. But, from the receptionist we came to learn that it had already happened a week ago!]
The water was being re-circulated at a low pressure through a central pipe that rose to about a foot in height in the middle such that the water fell over the sides of the pipe in all directions into a circular basin-like pool which remained full and the surplus water then fell over the higher basin’s periphery down to another basin-like tank at the ground level from where obviously it was being lifted through the central pipe again and again…
Was the Pinaka the bow that was broken by Rama during Sita' swayamvara?????
We would certainly like to know more about the legend of Shiva destroying the flying city.
Yes, Shri Aswini Kini, you are right. Pinaka is the name given to the gravitational field of earth, Vishnu’s old bow given to Shiva, which finds reference in the mythological stories in code words, that was apparently penetrated, (expressed as ‘broken by Rama’), by Sunrays (Rama’s arrows that is ‘ban’), thus also helping illuminate the Moon’s surface that exists within earth’s gravitational field (called ‘svayamvar’ of Sita, that is the practice where a Kshatriya bride chose her own ‘life partner’ - from amongst the invited suitors - the best or ‘purushottam’) and also bring Ahalya to revive (indicating sunrays as the life-giving energy)…
Shri Aswini Kini, In essence, the Hindu Mythological stories communicate the story of evolution of Nadbindu Vishnu, that is, Nirakar or formless energy called Supreme Soul who ever remains related with time and space ‘zero’ (‘0’).
The stories convey as the central idea that the process apparently resulted in innumerable ‘imperfect’ physical forms that appear to fill at all times the infinite dark void of the universe, called ‘Brahmand’, literally ‘Creator’s egg’, basically with a grand variety of galaxies each of which contains innumerable forms of heavenly bodies and also reflect variety in those to result in the apparent hierarchy, with a view to reflect the ‘best’ at any given point in apparent time. Out of all these galaxies our galaxy, called the ‘Milky Way Galaxy’, is indicated as the essence of the entire universe …which in its turn contains as its essence our solar system, which further in its turn contains our earth as essence of the solar system and therefore the essence of the universe…
In conclusion, however, the statements, such as ‘mithya jagat’, indicated that expansion of a dot would always have resulted only into a near spherical body, which is imperfect and apparently would continue to evolve with a view to reaching ‘perfection’ to reflect the ‘absolute true copy’ of the indestructible and perfect Formless Creator. As a near perfect end product, the globe appears like an apple, the ‘forbidden fruit’ as advised to Adam.
However, the expansion of a dot theoretically would naturally result in a geometrical shape that can be generally defined on a horizontal plane by four quadrants of 90 degrees each to form 360 degrees of space and thus, say, represent the four cardinal directions, as we know represented by N-E-W-S, originating from a common point to right as well as left, and also upwards and downwards, (thus making a cross that is associated with Jesus Christ).
Even today, the cartographers depict North with an arrow head, while south is indicated as its tail-end and graphically represented by bird feathers…thus these two are represented by an arrow or ‘ban’ (to the advanced Hindus)…
Reflecting the process of evolution, which result in both positive and negative characters, the story of Banasur (the son of Bali and father of a beautiful girl called USHA relating her with the morning and sunrise, who was married to Krishna's grandson Aniruddha - and she had chosen to marry him by seeing him only in a dream!), a physically powerful devotee of Shiva and believably the ruler of ‘Sonitpur’, Tezpur in the present day Assam, in northeast the direction related with flying ‘vanar’ Hanuman/ Ma Kamakhya the ‘fulfiller of unending desires’. Sonitpur like Ravana’s ‘golden Lanka’ indicates a rich but selfish king, that is, a ‘demon’ or ‘asur’ and thus depicts him as a ‘negative character’ that however reflects an advanced stage in evolution. For, the legends indicate him to belong to the family of Brahma (Sun, the heavenly body representing one aspect only of the eventually evolved ‘Trimurty’ or ‘Tripurari’ that is Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha in physical form as the controller of all the three worlds, also called Mahakal)…
Kavithaji, The story of marriage of Aniruddha and beautiful Usha has a hidden message! Usha believably was the daughter of ‘asur’ or ‘rakshasha’ Banasur the ‘sahasrabhjadhari’ or thousand-handed negative character who created fear in the hearts of devtas too. Banasur kept his daughter with her friends in an underground fortress called ‘Agnigarh’ that is ‘fortress of fire’ and wanted her to marry a man he chose. However, she believably not only saw Aniruddha, the grandson of Krishna, in her dream but also decided to marry him! And, in this task her graphic-designer cum spiritually advanced friend Chitralekha helped her not only in identifying him but also to teleport him to Agnigarh where Usha and Aniruddha thereafter lived secretly as husband and wife (a reflection of ardhanarishwar Shiva?)!
Talking of dreams, and devotees of Krishna and virtually handicapped that is ‘imperfect’ individuals, brings to ‘my’ mind two historical characters: Surdas who was blind from birth, but is world famous as a poet or a dreamer. The other one is a ‘scientist’ named Stephen Hawking who is apparently a ‘wheel-chair bound invalid’ suffering from ALS but one who researches into the behaviour of ‘Black Holes’ or the different prototypes or images of Krishna, the Black Hole that believably is housed at the centre of our galaxy! The advanced Hindu astronomers indicated Krishna to be present in 16,000 forms with different consorts at the same time – like images in ‘magical mirrors’ perhaps as exprssed by Vedantis who realized presence of the one and only SS, and all other physical forms as imperfect images of its own!
It is interesting to observe that in Sanskrit a particular word generally suggests how the word had apparently evolved over time necessitating enlargement of the vocabulary as new things came to light. For example, ‘Brahmand’ - meaning universe - relates to the realization that the Creator is Unborn, like the chick inside a hen’s egg, say, as an example of communication in examples in ‘Nature’ itself as its reflection.
The above realization was reached by Yogis who believably managed to achieve zero thoughts, through regular practice right from the childhood (before they got corrupted by the existing society, i.e., when their minds were like a clean slate) in some isolated location based on the thought that Supreme Soul, the Creator, unlike the innumerable physical forms that apparently fill the infinite universe/ world created by itself is unique or formless…
Kavitha, has mentioned the word ‘Aparajita Paripachchh’. Now, attempting to reach its meaning, maybe as a ‘wild guess’, the word ‘parajit’ indicates an individual who loses (in a fight, say), the prefix ‘a’ indicates the opposite of ‘parajit’, meaning one that is not defeated or unconquered and also unsolved.
Ane, the word ‘Pachh’ is derived from ‘paksha’ or side, the two categories into which a human society at any location on the globe is generally observed to get divided (to be read with two sides as seen reflected by behaviour of heavenly bodies too – say ‘Krishnapaksha’ the dark phase, and ‘shuklapaksha’ the bright phase, observed through moon’s cycle, or even simply occurrence of days and nights on earth). For example, in the battle of Mahabharat (that involved Krishna, literally meaning black, the eighth son of Devki-Vasudeva and also the eighth ‘avtara’ or re-incarnation of Vishnu or Nadbindu in physical form as the advisor of Pandavas) - whether they liked it or not, all the kings got polarized to either join Pandavas or the Kauravas (perhaps thus indicating actions performed by humans are influenced in a subtle manner by ‘Nature’ or ‘grahas’)…
Now if ‘I’, or an astrologer, were to ask the question from someone during which ‘paksha’ or phase of Moon, (the ruler of the dark night or ‘sky’/ space), a particular individual was born, or even to which particular political party one belonged, ‘I’ would be called ‘Paripachchhak’ and the question asked as ‘Paripachchh’. Thus ‘Aparajita Paripachchh’ is likely to convey an unsolved mystery or an unanswered question, such as “Who am ‘I’?” The answer is simple: “I am God!” but it is perhaps impossible to prove…this has ever remained a mystery…but one doesn't stop trying!
Learnt a lot from your comments Uncle Joshi!! :-) Thanks!!!
Shri Aswin Kini, ‘I’ am glad if the thoughts received in my head - as answers to some questions posed by ‘my’ exterior to the one who according to the ‘wise ancients’ resides within the foolish ‘me’ also - are found useful in clearing some doubts. Perhaps it is like clearing some cobwebs at some time – to again find some new ones after some time, for anant Durga doesn’t tire easily :-)
From the above, a question can arise into one’s mind: Could it be a mere coincidence that King Bruce (?), a character that appears in ‘British History’, was reportedly inspired by a spider when he was down and out not to give up despite repeated defeats in battles till then and to try again – and he succeeded next time!
“Try, try, try again till you succeed,” is also an essential finding since long…
Life apparently began under water and therefore obviously one might not find spiders down there in the seas. But, perhaps as an example of eight-handed Durga, one would find an example of wonderful design in ‘Nature’: an eight-armed octopus, one of the cephalopods that include the largest, fastest, and most intelligent of all invertebrates. Unlike other mollusks, they have sucker-bearing arms or tentacles that serve the double purpose of catching fish and crustaceans, and also to transfer sperm from the male! And, they can move speedily by using jet propulsion, by squirting water from the mantle cavity!
Also interestingly, indicating Neelamber Krishna’s hand perhaps (as Krishna says to the effect that the whole Nature is copying him), the bite of a ‘Blue-ringed octopus’ found in coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans can kill a man in 15 minutes!
Shri Aswin Kini, Kavitha, Dr Anilji… Talking of hints of the ‘wonderful design’ by ‘panchbhootas’, reflected in ‘Nature’ coming gradually to light, as observed by ‘present day scientists’ also, could perhaps help visualize how the ‘ancient Hindus’ would also perhaps have gone through the same process in the ‘past’…and perhaps the following finding, (‘I’ received on the internet, with photographs), might help visualize how Eagle that is Garud was chosen as the ‘vehicle of Vishnu’ that also finds its reflection in the profile of North America sculpted by the ‘panchbhootas’ (starting from BanaLingas) and also adopted in its National Flag!
The story of our elegant eagle:
The eagle has the longest life-span of its species.
It can live up to 70 years. But to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard decision in its 40's.
Its long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serves as food. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent. Its old-aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers, become stuck to its' chest and make it difficult to fly.
Then, the eagle is left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days. The process requires that the eagle fly to a mountain top and sit on its' nest.
There the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until it plucks it out. After plucking it out, the eagle would wait for a new beak to grow back and then it would pluck out its talons.
When its new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its' old-aged feathers. And after five months, the eagle takes its famous flight of rebirth and lives for 30 more years.
Continuing with the reflection of SS’s design, although, perhaps ‘I’ am repeating it the nth time, Australia, or ‘down under’, a continent located in the southern hemisphere as the base of the northern hemisphere - where ‘Ma Durga’s’ tiger shaped ‘India’, (with abode of Adi Shiva in Kashi), in the ‘Indian sub continent’ is located - presents in appearance the head of a bull that perhaps found reference of Nandi the bull as the vehicle of Shiva, sculpted by the same ‘panchbhootas’ the immortal personalities ruling over the apparently infinite universe, since time immemorial, mutely, or/ rather in a language that is out of course for the present day Hindus (whose head is ruled by the essence of moon), i.e., all the residents of the Globe!
Kavitha, you might remember, ‘I’ had once indicated ‘Hindu thoughts’, read between lines, how earth, that is, Shiva reflects His various faces or images through different individuals…Some have understood earth as a school where humans, i.e., souls, come to get educated. Some have understood the world as a hospital/ mad-house/ workshop for repair work on defective machines.
Some compared it with a jail for one life-term punishment decided by Shiva the Judge of judges (physical form is indicated as a medium to keep the soul confined, just as the jail-house keeps the body confined for some duration
decided by the concerned judge – maximum for one life-term), and so on, innumerable concepts or thoughts possible, as expressed in “Hari anant…”
Having been engaged with reflections of ‘wonderful design’ of the SS, ‘I’ was, therefore, amused to find ‘my newspaper’ this morning come out apparently with the ‘ancient Hindu thought’ through DOUG HORTON, a name sounding like a ‘modern western character’, under the heading CONTRAPUNTO: ‘We are all serving a life sentence, and good behaviour is our only hope for a pardon.’:-)
And, as we have seen earlier also, the mysterious character, named Krishna, is indicated to have been born within a prison in Mathura on one bank of River Yamuna to Ma Devki, to find itself on the other bank in Gokul and brought up by Ma Yashoda! And, it was Ma Yashoda who saw the entire universe in child Krishna’s mouth! And, the mischievous Krishna’s true identity is seen in Bhagavad Gita, where the mysterious Yogis concerned with the compilation for the benefit of different readers at different times, convey through the character of Krishna that the entire creation, the physical universe that is ‘Brahmand’ rests within HIM (the unborn, like a chick within, say, hen’s egg that is yet to be delivered)!
Statements, such as ‘Maya’, ‘Jagat Mithya’ that is ‘illusory earth’, etc. conveys the apparent physical forms as images, or characters in dream of the Formless Creator, that is Bhootnath Shiva, who is represented by its own images symbolically by Shivalingas made of materials provided by earth itself as its own nearly true image, for only the Bhootnath Shiva/ Vishnu the Nadbindu the point source of infinite energy is conveyed as ‘perfect’ or ‘Supreme Knowledge’, or the Omnipresent and Omnipotent Being!
With the Hindu thought about ‘truth’ remaining unaffected by ‘time’ (for God is related with time and space zero), and also Krishna, the reported source of ‘Maya’ that is illusion as a mischievous character at the back of one’s mind, looking for its reflection in the ‘present’ perhaps one could find it reflected in the recent times by the ‘western character’ named Stephen Hawking, who expressed his desire to enter the mind of God (of course, although he is considered a genius despite being ‘physically challenged’ and is engaged with research on ‘Black Holes’ that is heavenly bodies that are nearly formless, perhaps he is yet to reach the ‘formless creator’)!
Kavitha, ‘I’ am sorry for being responsible for the sea of words! (My French teacher had talked of 'romain fleuve' that is the river of words only)...So, ‘I’ should perhaps stop here and wait for comments of others:-)
HI Joshi Uncle,
Am really sorry for not being able to answer to your comments earlier. I just have not had the time, to read through and respond.
My apologies Uncle
Regds
Kavitha
Hi Kavitha, Good morning!
As ‘I’ told you ‘I’ am a seeker of the ‘Truth’ apparently hidden in ‘Nature’ (and stone Temples for the Formless, or in human forms too, are one small, negligible, part of it)... And, ‘Nature’ has also been read before ‘me’ by the ‘wise ancients’, whether one called them ‘scientists’ or ‘Yogis’ (refer Shakespeare’s famous quote about ‘Rose’, which to a Hindu reflects the beautiful mind of the detached Creator, Brahma seated on Lotus!)…
And, as ‘I’ said earlier also elsewhere in your blog, ‘I’ got a feeling ‘I’ was personally invited by ‘Ma Kamakhya’ to seek Her out! And, with that belief as the background, since then (early Eighties) ‘I’ have started seeing things apparently differently, and although ‘I’ know words cannot express a realization, ‘I’ have tried to express those in words whenever ‘I’ have had an opportunity. And, while doing so ‘I’ have felt a sense of happiness in my mind, which ‘I’ unfortunately cannot transfer directly, because words can be interpreted by one who is seeking unhappiness to mean the exact opposite of what was intended:-) So it is well understood since time immemorial that it is the readers’/ listeners’ mental attitude that matters :-)
In view of the above, ‘I’ got a feeling that keeping the blog alive was becoming a burden not only on you but most of the other bloggers too. And, on the other hand, everyone knows that it’s the law of ‘Nature’ that all things, good or bad, must come to an end. And, mischievous Krishna, also clarifies taht it appears so because of ‘His Maya’! He, therefore, recommends one to accept life as it comes (a difficult proposition believably because of ‘Maya’ that is the inherent design) and enjoy it detachedly as long as it lasts, like one enjoys Bollywood films/ TV serials today even when their quality has relatively apparently deteriorated, for the ancients also realized that it is the one and only Formless Creator who is reviewing History, i.e., His Own Past through innumerable eyes and in the beginning He too must have been a learner!!!!
Being in Kali Yuga we all believably are characters reflecting souls at different levels within that still have lot to learn, and must therefore (perhaps helplessly) await projection of events related with Sat Yuga – for it is also indicated by the ‘wise’ that Kali Yuga brings Sat Yuga again, like a Yoyo in the hand of a child reaches its hand again after having reached its maximum fall (God believably is still unborn and therefore he is younger than a child even!) :-)
Joshi uncle! Hallo! As regards the story of eagle is it a truth or only a legend!To me an eagle goes into isolation,thinks a lot ,Introspects & adapts to the new ways & goes on....That is the essence of the story.As regards the trady or sometimes an absent response from my side it takes a little long for me to really appreciate the hidden meaning in your despatches,Needless to say they are indeed very informative!
Hello Dr Anilji, If ‘I’ had your email address, ‘I’ could have forwarded to you also the concerned email ‘I’ received from a friend settled in the USA that contained some photographs also, which of course mightn’t help prove all that was contained in the write up, which ‘I’ copied here…and it could very well be a ‘hoax’ that is illusion or a result of ‘Maya’! Still one cannot deny an eagle as a wonderful creation whosever might be the cause apparent of its coming to life and act the way it does so very efficiently!
Regarding reactions from readers, ‘I’ had earlier also expressed that ‘I’ enjoyed ‘my’ own thoughts that ‘I’ believed to come from Him, the one who resides within ‘me’!
However, it is but natural for a human being, being a ‘social animal’, to desire to share those with others too. However, in doing so in a web-log, if one didn’t get any reaction from anyone for long, one starts doubting the usefulness of writing those. One might then perhaps feel it better to exchange ‘spiritual’ thoughts through e-mails only – ‘with birds of the same feathers’, maybe in small numbers. Or decide to remain ‘maun’ or silent like a Muni believing, like matters of ‘high finance' that only likes of Ambanis can understand - due to time lag, say!
Kavitha, Dr Anilji, Aswin Kini, being an ardent lover since ‘my childhood’ of the game called Cricket (that ‘I’ have earlier elsewhere shown to represent the essence of a galaxy, or/ rather the various models of galaxies through different teams at different locations representing different forms of ‘Krishna’ or Black Hole the cause apparent at the centre of each that apparently makes innumerable heavenly bodies go around it), at this juncture ‘I’ would like to point out that Mumbai, in the Southwest (SW) direction, the natural source of annual monsoon winds, is chosen ‘coincidentally’ as the venue for IPL cricket matches where the team from West (Team Rajasthan in blue uniform – reflecting Neelamber Krishna) and South (Team Chennai in yellow uniform – reflecting Peetamber Krishna) are going to perform this evening to decide the winner between the two (and ‘my guess’ as the favourite team would be the West (in blue uniform) that represents the mischievous Neelamber Krishna who ruled in Kaliyuga)!
Nice Comparison Joshi Uncle between cricket & Krishna leela! But I think The likes of BCCI ICCI & others form the black hole!
I have a Bana Lingam at home, How do I do Ahishekam to the Lingam, and how many times should Abhishekam be done? I vaguely remmeber being told that it should be done once every 48 days.
Post a Comment