Strange temples that beat the canons of popular architecture echo the presence of an esoteric cult of the Mother Goddess in the form of "Chaunsat Yogini" shrines. Though the cult of the Goddess has survived in a more favorable way of ritual worship, few examples bring to life the extreme form of this worship during the 8th to 12th cen A.D.
In the darkness along the gushing course of the Narmada River, atop a hill in the silence of the moonless night a lamp is lit. The fire of the lamp lights up the faces of 64 Yoginis within the walls of a great temple, the temple of the Goddess. Shakti trasforms into power here, she is pure feminine beauty, she is sexuality and she is life. Raw female power is awakened within these walls of a circular roofless temple and as the ritual unfolds, these graceful yoginis begin to dance. These forms of the Goddess are full breasted and voluptuous with slim waists as they move with grace exuding beauty as the Sadaka worships their many forms, imbibing the very element of Shakti into his experience of the Goddess. As the Chausathi Mahamayavi Tantra and the Chandi Purana of the 15th century composed by Sarala Das describe through folk songs of the era, these yoginis constitute the different parts of the body of the Mother Goddess herself.
Chaunsat Yogini temple interior, BheraghatSeduction gushes forth as these Goddesses come alive, dressed in flowing skirts held together by an ornate girdle worn low on their hips. Shimmering necklaces and garlands cover their chests, as the sounds of their bangles and anklets in sweet notes fill the air. 64 yoginis, charge the air as they dance around Bhairava, their elaborate hairdo pronouncing their lush beauty, their earrings shimmering in the light of the fire that wakes the sleeping night within this temple. Their lotus eyes bring sweetness to their beings, grace to their forms and warmth to their presence. Bhairava, the potent Lord dances with them within his circle, the Chakra of life, it is an experience for the living. This is the world of the tantriks, this is the world of Bhairava Shiva as the fire cuts through the darkness bringing on the experience of the Goddess divine.
Chaunsat Yogini temple, HirapurThe air is still, the lamp light is feeble, as the floor is flooded with the ritualistic syllables of the Goddesses. This magical world descends into darkness. Most yogini temples have the dancing Bhairava fiercely rendering his presence at the center of the courtyard. Here he dances with the 64 damsels through the night. At the temple of Bheraghat, Lord Shiva descends within the temple, seated with his beautiful consort Parvati on the back of Nandi Bull in the central shrine as they make their way into the tantrik rituals of this temple.
Bheraghat is one of 9 temples that dot the Indian landscape. Other Yogini Shrines are at Hirapur, Ranipur Jharial, and Khandriya Mahadeva temple Khajuraho to name the most prominent. There are dilapidated structures that dot the countryside of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
These temples redefine a strange cult practice that involved human sacrifices and offerings of blood, or the use of fresh corpses out of war (Dead kings, soldiers and warriors) and ritual practices of a tribal (Adivasi) kind that invoke the power of Kali and Mahakala Bhairava of the ancient Tantrik tradition. These 64 yoginis have also been grouped into 8 supreme Goddesses known as the Astamatrika. Interestingly in these temples even Ganesha has a feminine form - Ganeshani (bottom right in red in picture above).
Ganeshani at Bheraghat
These ritual practices have probably died with time or have moved back into the tribal villages of Orissa. What remain are powerful eerie temples that reflect the fury and tantrik power of Shiva Bhairava and the Mother Goddess.
Related posts:
64 Yoginis dance with Bhairava
Potency of Lord Shiva – Part 2
Ekapada Shiva - The one legged Shiva
Photo Courtesy:
ganapati.club.fr/mp/images
53 comments:
Kavitha,64 number has another meaning in this context.There are 64 types of Ratibandh {types of intimate physical contacts}described.It was very interesting to note that there wss a schhol of thought that considered sex as a potent force which when directed properly could be used to attain salvation
It would be interesting to dvelve on the reasons why a significant majority of hindus consider sex as a taboo.
“All roads lead to Rome” could perhaps explain the essence of life conveyed by the ancients in an enlarged sense. That is, it was realized by the ‘wise ancients’ that God is one (but Formless and therefore unseen and out of reach of all, although His Own Images)…
The Hindus represented the unseen energy symbolically through female forms, e.g., Mother Kali as a dark-bodied fearful one graphically conveys the destructive form of energy, and therefore shown with her tongue protruded out, which is painted red, the symbol of fire…
The energy that defined the external human form was represented as essences of eight Yoginis (all images of Krishna), that is, Heavenly Bodies called ‘grahas’ or planets located at different levels, such that at each level or chakra a ray in each of the eight directions had for control eight different images of each chakra, thus totaling 64 numbers ‘yoginis’ to represent a single form…
Basically, a seeker of ‘Truth’ was given to understand that one should remain ‘sthitpragya’ that is unmoved under all circumstances by what one, an imperfect soul in reality, believably experienced in the apparent material world. For the physical world was illusory, a result of Maya created by the Formless Creator the Supreme Soul, the only perfect being in the apparent universe of apparent physical forms!
Joshi Uncle,Is there any school of thought which considers this"Maya" as an illusion?
Hi Dr Anilji, The Hindu Philosophy in essence conveys the ‘truth’ that each one of us ever remains a spectator of the mysteries of the unending ‘Nature’ (such as ‘natural’ appearance of dreams, irrespective of one’s caste, creed, faith, sex, and so on, (and even in inferior animals as it is reported by ‘scientists’ today), when one is in a state of rest or sleep - without the help of any external tools which are apparently needed for viewing in ‘wakeful condition’ images transmitted by human agencies from ‘long distances’ through satellites and TVs, that is, the necessary ‘infrastructure’, for example). They, therefore, advised one to seek the ‘truth’ on one’s own - based on whatever knowledge one accumulates through different Gurus (irrespective of the apparent status in the apparent ’material world’ created by man) throughout one’s life, which is generally known to be insufficient to reach the ‘Absolute Truth’. And ‘Hindus’, perhaps therefore, reached the conclusion of ‘life after life’, in various ‘animal forms’ for it…however, realized also man as the superior most life form on earth…
Generally perhaps, it is understood by everyone at all times that spoken, or written, words/ symbols cannot communicate completely any of the various emotions experienced by man, say ‘happiness’, and opposite of it, i.e., ‘unhappiness’, for example, perhaps possible of expressions generally, such as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’, ‘good’ or bad, ‘two sides of a coin’, and so on, which fail miserably to communicate to another human being, or life of the same kind, the absolute nature of any particular emotion…and there are innumerable life forms and thus innumerable languages for communication of thoughts (‘I’ couldn’t have followed Kavitha, say, if wrote in Tamil, unless ‘I’ take a ‘rapid course’ in the language and also in Art History!)
The ‘wise Hindus’ conveyed through general use of terms such as ‘Maya’ and ‘Mithya Jagat’, that is, the world a lie, and also advice, as in the Gita, the only purpose of man is to seek the Formless God as well as the gods with forms…
And, the ‘wise ancients’ anywhere in the world conveyed man as model of the universe created by the Supreme Soul with His Yogamaya, or an illusion, as conveyed also in the ‘west’ by the saying, “God created man in His Own image”. The wise and enlightened Yogis also apparently exclaimed, “Shivoham” that is ‘I’ myself am Shiva (which any other enlightened person also apparently realized)!
The general realization, as conveyed through the use of the Third Eye of Bhootnath Shiva, believably expressed the universe as His dream or projections of events or History of His Own past in ‘apparent time’ whereas Time and space both ever remain ‘zero’ (0)…
A very interesting article!!! 64 Yoginis worshipped by offering meat!!
Isn't meat supposed to be a form of Rajasic food!!!
What kind of worship was being performed in this temple??
Do you have any legend explaining the need for this temple.
As far as i know, nowhere have i read lord Shiva, as Bhairava here, being worshipped by 64 yoginis.
Does this have any symbolic meaning.
My dad says that each temple statue and each line in their scripture has some hidden meaning and only very few realize the true meaning. Maybe the 64 yoginis refer to something else.
As we say in tamil "AAYA KALAIGAL ARUPATHI NAANGU(referring to the 64 forms of art)". Maybe the 64 yoginis refer to something else.
Maybe Shri Aswin Kini hasn’t read my comments above! Yoginis represent different ‘Energy forms’…
made to take any physical form in the universe/ earth...
Once you realize Aswini that material is illusionary form of dust that Krishna eats (!), it is immaterial what ‘prasad’ is offered…Krishna says He has nothing left to be achieved in all the three worlds!
Thanks Joshi Uncle!!!
Should have guessed the hidden meanings earlier.
I didn't read any of the comments since i was doing a task and had to navigate away from the page.
It is very nice to know that our religion has many hidden meanings which provide the real truth:
For instance:
The presence of Ganga on lord Shiva's head represents Gnana or knowledge.
The big ears of lord Ganesha symobilize the thirst for gaining knowledge via listening, his big belly indicates the abundance of knowledge within, the small rat represents the ego etc.
The Shiva linga, by itself, is a mystery. My version of the linga's meaning is that the centre of the linga may refer to a Star, and the elliptical shape around it may refer to an orbit of maybe a heavenly body such as a planet or moon revolving around it.(This is just my opinion, i may be wrong)
In our epics, the skin of lord Rama and Krishna are said to be blue in color, the blue color indicates the sky.
Ravana's ten heads symbolically refer to his mastering of the 6 upanishads and 4 vedas, although he was a rakshasha, he had gained supreme knowledge by reading them and had abused it.
Joshi uncle & folks! This is Kavitha's 201 th post.Thank you Kavitha for all the information,Insights,& the moments of meaningful introspection that were possible only because of the blog
Yes, Dr Anilji, thanks for pointing it out. It is really a commendable achievement that requires regular, Bhagirath-like, efforts to find suitable materials week after week and make Ganga of knowledge flow perennially. Congrats Kavitha!
Shri Aswin Kini, Conforming to the saying, “Hari ananta/ Hari katha ananta…” your thoughts reflect one of the innumerable interpretations of the stories possible (and all stories have some moral): for example, of Shiva’s devotee, indicated as a highly evolved but a ‘negative’ image of the Formless called ‘Dashanan’, or ten headed Ravana, in Tretayuga (the time duration when human efficiency is still lower than 100% possible at the end of Satyuga), vis-à-vis for comparison ‘Purushottam the best among humans, i.e., the positive image of the Formless at a given point in apparent time’, Rama, the still evolving son of ‘Dasharatha’ the ‘suryavanshi’ king, i.e., a ‘sadhak’ whose mind is nearly under control like the driver of a chariot that is driven by ten powerful horses, just as our Sun’s white light carries the colours seen in the rainbow as well as ultraviolet and infrared energy forms etc…
In Dwaperyuga Krishna is indicated as the driver of Arjuna’s chariot, and in Tretayuga Bharat is depicted as the proxy ruler who ruled with the slippers of Rama (sunrays that energise life on earth) on the throne of Ayodhya (Sun the source of white light rules during the day with blue sky in teh background)!
Yogiraja Krishna, the ‘siddha’ that is an all rounder, in the Gita therefore is depicted advising ‘expert archer’ Arjuna-like characters in the drama of human life to develop all round knowledge - the whole bird and not its eye alone!
And, the Puranas and Vedas could be said to contain the various ‘truths’ of the drama, Krishna Leela, Rama Leela, and so on. However, ‘vedantis’, such as Adi Shankara, understood the whole, the ‘Absolute Truth’, to be Nadbindu the powerful ‘zero’, or MIP (Most Important Person), whose influence extends all over the infinite void of the universe – Vishnu of the Vaishnavites/ Shiva of the Shaivites…South Pole/ North Pole that appear separated because of ‘mithya jagat’ or the globe as a lie, a market where only lies are sold (as the ‘truths’ generated thanks to Brahma, one of the three aspects of Trimurty)!
“Work expands to fill time.”
A ‘scientist’, or an expert in some particular field, is generally seen as an ‘atheist’, as is evident in the manner even a sixteen-year-old today proudly says he/ she doesn’t believe in God (as per a popular saying in ‘ancient India’, a son when he attained this age he was treated like a friend by his father)! And, in a ‘democracy’, the rule of the majority applies, it is thus obvious that the system is quite useful in the ‘Absolute Truth’ remaining unknown to the masses for long, as much as it is required to suit the Yuga, and thus serve the purpose of stretching ‘time’, which naturally has then to be filled with work!
However, the ‘wise ancient Hindus’ also indicated the universe/ earth as its model to be related with time and space zero – and therefore cautioning one to remain prepared for sudden drop of the curtain over the drama!
“Old order changes, yielding places to new.”
Perhaps that’s why, as a reflection of it, the blogger’s world is being congested by actors of Bollywood also, in the stage called ‘India’, for washing their dirty linen themselves! And, in the beginning, the newspaper editors were happy to see majority of bloggers quit – allowing them to do washer-man’s job of washing dirty linens of netas and abhinetas (leaders and actors) in the public for their entertainment, particularly with the erotica as the ancients at some stage did it with images of gods, to fool some for some time only, for all good as well as bad things come to an end at a certain stage!
Anilji, Joshi Uncle,
Its thanks to your participation and constant presence on this blog that made it this successful and lively.
It wouldnt have come to this if you were not around.
Anilji thanks a lot for announcing it and Joshi uncle, thank you for coming onto the blog and sticking with it for over 3 or more years to make it a place worth visiting.
Warm regards
Kavitha
Hi Kavitha, in so far as ‘I’ am concerned, you have acted like the driver of the chariot and ‘I’ have taken the ride on it for ‘time pass’! And have thus enjoyed various related thoughts triggered by your presentations from time to time, every second of my journey within ‘my’ head, while wondering on the other hand if Bhootnath Shiva is also similarly enjoying His Own Creation through the eyes of innumerable physical forms – in a blissful state, or maybe in a detached state, eternally!
‘I’ seek Him/ Her/ IT’s purpose, what it seeks and how ‘I’ could be of assistance to the Divine Person to reach it. But, for some reason known only to that person, it prefers to remain incognito…
The ‘Hindu’ mythological stories convey that even the ‘wisest of the wise ancients’ failed to know it and decided to merely call it Shiva, the opposite of Visha the poison that appears to kill the Divine Person’s Own Images that are innumerable. And although these appear to get dissolved with time and yet they remain unending by reappearing time and again!
It is perhaps formless, a point represented by, say, a single tiny seed of a tree, which with passage of time might result in a forest of those trees, like appearance of its own multiple and different looking images in different ‘mirrors’ that are ‘magical’ – like the symbolic presentation of the ‘truth’ with idols of the 64 Yoginis that in reality are representations of energy components of the one and only YOGI (the grand total) composed of innumerable idols - as it gets reflected in the infinite physical universe composed of a grand variety of galaxies, each one of which itself has a grand variety of forms and each form existing in large numbers!
The mythological stories, however, to a little bit of our consolation perhaps, indicates our ‘Milky Way Galaxy’ to contain that single seed in the form of our planet earth, as the essence or model of the universe that holds the formless creator (Kali, the MIP) located at its centre or ‘heart’ (and ancient astronomers also indicated earth to lie at the centre of the universe)! And for diverting our attention from it, ‘present day scientists’ that is the rakshashas of the myth indicate Sun, the centre of our solar system as the VIP, whereas the ‘wise ancient Hindus’ hinted at Brahma or Sun to play a secondary role, as one of the aspects of the Three-in-one God – Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha!
The character of Yogiraja Krishna - depicted by the ‘wise Hindus’ that believably appeared in human form during Dwaperyuga the era of maximum 50% efficiency possible for achievement by ‘Purushottam’ the best human being during that period - in the Bhagavad Gita, addressing all characters in Kaliyuga the relatively inferior most Yuga out of all the four Yugas, advises them all to surrender all their actions in Him! The ‘wise ancients’ therefore believably in the ‘past’ indicated Time (and Mahakal Shiva the controller of time was depicted as the central figure) as the element around which Yogamaya or 64 (8x8) Yoginis revolved, as also reflected in the Temples of the Chaunsath Yoginis at different locations in the ‘past’ in ancient ‘India’ that remains a mystery to the ‘present day man’…
With the above as the background, or the mind-set of ‘wise ancient Hindus’ who had come to realize the ‘Absolute Truth’ of the existence of Supreme Soul as the MIP and rest all as his ‘mayavi’ forms or ‘His Own images’, particularly all females as symbols of energy, now perhaps one and all of us ‘modern people’, belonging to the ‘wild’ lot, as seen through the eyes of the disciplined civilized ‘ancients’, can perhaps appreciate why sages lived in hermitages in ‘villages’, in secluded regions, away from the hustle and bustle of the urbanized regions, which would have existed even then as the ‘truth’ of the drama, for to a ‘Hindu’ truth is defined as that which didn’t change with time…’India’ therefore still is reckoned as a country of villages, although inhabited today by disturbed souls…due to much greater indiscipline in the urban regions that exist in the midst of the ‘villages’ as the motive force...mischievous Krishna!
There was an apparent time when all villagers were considered ‘foolish’ and ‘ignorant’ by city dwellers, but now they are also ‘educated’ and due to the existing mind-set about ‘India’ the city dwellers get paid in their own coin by such ‘educated villagers’ (as inherent characteristic of Time being Kaliyuga)!
The ‘truth’ seen through the eyes of a farmer, “What you sow, so shall you reap.” And, to a ‘scientist’, “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” And also, generally speaking like a Yogi, “Courtesy begets courtesy.”
Hi Kavitha, A reaction to a lettrer in my newspaper, for enjoyment of the thought...
This refers to Shri S Bandyopadhyay's conversation 'IGI airport urgently needs a revamp', 21/5, with reference to the Times View/ Counterview, 15/5.
A jaundiced eye believably sees Yellow everywhere, whereas a person gone blind during monsoon season sees only Green! The ancient Hindus similarly indicated ‘west’ to be ruled - by the relatively lower in hierarchy than the above two colours - Blue. While they indicated through Ma Kali’s tongue, Red as the ruler of ‘east’, and Kali, meaning ‘black’, is indicated in code words to reside in Shiva’s heart! If decoded, in simple words, the above could be seen to indicate molten magma located in the ‘heart’ or core of earth to represent Kali and our planet earth as Shiva!
Maybe, one can thus also see Krishna the mischievous child’s hand in the red flame, or ‘fire’ that emerges out of the ‘mouth’ of a volcano being called the ‘tongue’. The lava (molten rocks or ‘earth’) that flows over the crater after it has apparently burned all that comes in its path, cools down as it comes in contact with ‘air’/ ‘water’ and turns black (Kali/ Krishna!)…to revive the top-soil, the mother of dust, the cause of dirty environment in ‘India’ where ‘water’ is polluted, ‘air’ is polluted, dust or ‘earth’ turned into food is polluted, ‘sky’ or space is polluted…perhaps leaving only ‘fire’ or energy (image of Nadbindu the source of infinite energy, located at Varanasi that was Kashi) still unpolluted…
Bharat, therefore, was understood as ‘Mahan’ that is Great!
JC
PS. Of course all this is out of course in Kaliyuga, literally and practically also, the ‘Dark Age’, or the era of ignorance - proverbial Ostrich...!
It is therefore not surprising that starting from a cave man, and gradually learning to light fire with sparks produced by rubbing two suitable stones, a stage perhaps reached after intense research by some brainy chap among the majority of the then brawns, (maybe coincidentally even perhaps named ‘Einstein’!), man has made rapid progress in the art of making ‘controlled and safe fire’, gradually starting from safety matches…
And today man feels proud of having recently reached the peak of exploitation of natural resources to usher in the ‘Atomic Age’! But, on the other, hand man is panicky at the possibility of likely misuse of the power by unscrupulous elements, whose numbers - unfortunately for peace-loving people - has apparently grown geometrically over the recent past. For they can perhaps destroy the whole world in no time (reminding a Hindu of Shiva the Destroyer who destroyed Kamadeva), just as monkeys are seen to consume lesser in a farm compared to what they deliberately destroy! Even the rallies of frustrated people today in ‘India’ appears to act like swarms of locusts…
However, what man in the present isn’t able to see with his mind’s eye, although he is able to see with his own physical eyes and also has apparently learned - from stars that apparently exist for many billions of years and in innumerable numbers - how these heavenly bodies are formed of Hydrogen gas in each of their core, which is undergoing a chain reaction whereby tremendous amount of heat is being generated, triggered in the long lost past and managed at a safe distance from our planet earth, for use by the variety of life on the planet for their sustenance, and conclude the phenomenon as design by some intelligent being, which the ancient Hindus realized as the one and only Supreme Being, who is mischievous and for some reason enjoys fooling man, although His Own image!
Ancient man, however, as reported by historians also, apparently were inspired and given sufficient opportunities as well as time to do in-depth analysis – simply by ‘samudra manthan’ or churning of space, whereby cave-man (man being understood irrespective of the era or time as model of the universe or image of God) wasn’t allowed to settle down in the beginning in order to educate man about ‘Nature’s’ behaviour, each individual personally, through different seasons over some duration to get as many view-points as possible…and the process repeated from time to time as is indicated even by the observations and conclusions of the ‘present day wise’ also…
And, at a certain stage, only when the human race was sufficiently educated, gave some of those, their leaders, the thought to settle down in different regions of the globe…while some ‘nomads’ seen even today act as specimens in Shiva’s museum, (like video films in the present of some event that happened in the past!), which indirectly reflect the relatively remoter ‘past’, that is, time at the beginning of creation…
The 64 Yoginis also similarly communicate the thoughts of some ancients who, because of rampant copying seen in ‘Nature’ (though not allowed among humans except in ‘open book exams’ as a reflection of that), might have copied from some creations of their ancients, as it gets reflected from ‘Hindu thoughts’ as contained in the practice carried through time immemorial, called “Sanatan Dharma”…
Man perhaps thus was understood only as a medium of communication, a storehouse of information and energy!
‘Meditation’ practiced even by a householder - or a ‘sanyasi’ that is a person who has retired from active day-to-day world apparently due to various reasons for it - during one’s spare time, reflects the copying of the believably, generally accepted, immovable Creator, as reflected by ‘mathani’, that is, the ‘churner’ that remains, relatively speaking, fixed at one location while revolving around its vertical axis and thus allowing the fluid, in the form of cow’s milk, to revolve around it and thus help separate, as a symbol, the best (cream) from the relatively inferior left-over…(compare with the axis of rotation of earth around its poles and, its satellite, Moon revolving around earth that for all purposes appears to remain still). A ‘wonderful design’ by Natraja Shiva, that is earth, as it symbolically gets presented in His idol, as an example of copying is also reflected by the apparently ‘fixed’ Sun and its planetary system, as well as similarly by the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy and the innumerable heavenly bodies going around it (and also similarly in other innumerable galaxies that apparently fill the infinite void of the universe too!)…reflecting thus the process of multiplication and Bhootnath Shiva that is the Formless represented by Shivalinga…
Yogis and Buddhist monks, who withdrew to some caves/ Chaityas or Viharas (in the Himalayas or elsewhere, irrespective of their location on the globe understood as the true copy of the unseen creator) that is the origin of man at the beginning of creation apparently could find the ‘Absolute Truth’ of existence of the believably one and only Supreme Soul…and naturally received extraordinary powers compared to the ‘common man’…and therefore could perform ‘miracles’ – that are perhaps nothing compared to the apparent miracle of creation and sustenance eternally of the apparent infinite and unending universe that even today is expanding like a balloon as its model!
Certain popular mythological stories, such as that of Vishwamitra attaining the title of Maharshi, an elevated soul, but literally the head of sages, only when he could overcome temptations etc deliberately created by the king of devtas called Indra, the controller of heaven whose chair is coveted by all humans, (as part of an examination), help humans to visualize through human characters, who although represent typically some still evolving heavenly body in any other Yuga other than the end of Satyuga, how ‘rakshashas’ that is literally those characters, in the story/ script related with the drama are engaged in defence of the Absolute Truth not becoming known to every character – but only to rare personalities, and that too only when time is right…when they fulfil certain requirements laid down by the mute Creator, which have to be indirectly known from hints in ‘Nature’ that are innumerable in order for anyone to fine tune the mental inclination or mind-set of the individual concerned...
As ‘I’ have already described it in detail elsewhere earlier, ‘my’ the then under 11 year-old on the 8th December, ’81, apparently without any training to ‘my’ knowledge and belief, announced innocently the cancellation of ‘my’ flight from Guwahati to Imphal in the ‘northeast India’ at the scheduled hour of departure from New Delhi (where it hadn’t apparently taken off because of some technical snag as learnt later)… And, pondering over it only later did ‘I’ realize that the day happened to be the third death anniversary of my mother that ‘I’ could see it as the hand of mischievous Krishna/ Kamakhya…which was almost confirmed when ‘I’ happened to hear the voice of the unseen to remind that the item that ‘I’ was forgetting to buy from the market one evening almost 19 months later was ‘Koni’, that is, ‘eggs’ in Assamese!
And it was in the month of December
that 'I' was married on the 2nd day 16 years ago and on the 4th of the same month in 1999, the year that had three 9s, related with Christ, when 'my' wife apparently departed from this world!
And as ‘my loud thoughts’ in retrospect, perhaps ‘coincidentally’, or maybe by design, ‘I’ and ‘my wife’ had visited the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati for the first time almost three years earlier in the year ’80 and in the month that happened to be the month of her birth (July). She was born at Jagdalpur, i.e., a location close to the longitude of Kashi & Amarkantak (both locations related with Adi Shiva – the ‘zero’ reference for the globe as per ‘wise ancient Hindus’) almost three years before the occurrence of the phenomenon when ‘I’ apparently heard the voice of the unseen (and ‘3’ represents ‘OM’ as well as Trimurty, the Trinity or Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha!
On review of the above comment, ‘I’ am to state in simple words that ‘I’ experienced the phenomenon related with hearing of the voice of the unseen force in July ‘83 while ‘I’ had first visited the Kamakhya Temple in July ’80, three years earlier…
There are many questions that remain a mystery. For example, what did that tantrik saw in my face that helped him to predict, almost two weeks in advance, risk to my father’s life? He, at that time, was at our home-town with his nephew’s family, unaware of any danger!
Of course, the tantrik - who had come to prepare oil for massage for ‘my wife’, for she suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis for last around 8 years or so - hadn’t clearly said it was ‘my father’ but had used only the word ‘my relative who was having high blood pressure’…And it was only later that ‘I’ learnt from ‘my father’, after he had recovered and was in Delhi, how he had received the ‘prasad’ sent by ‘me’ the very same day that he had had the heart attack and was lying in bed in a semi conscious state. He remembered only that he said that because he had received Ma Kamakhya’s Prasad, he wouldn’t die!
‘I’ have earlier elsewhere also narrated the event in detail, how a cardiac specialist luckily visited our home-town Almora and had prescribed the medicine that helped him recover in about 3 months…He happened to be there because of Iraq-Iran war in the Eighties when the doctor couple working in Basra, Iraq, decided to return to their home-town, Nainital (related with Nainadevi, yet another form of Ma Kamakhya!) - and also cover Almora by him on Sundays!
In this connection, ‘I’ recall also the incident related with souls narrated to ‘me’ by a colleague who hailed from some place in Tripura in the northeast of ‘India’, one of the 'seven sisters' states, which also ‘I’ had narrated in detail earlier elsewhere in Kavitha’s blog.
He was at that time visiting his sister who lost her valuable golden necklace. He invited for help a tantrik. Although he said he never told that his daughter belonged to ‘Tula rashi’, as desired by the tantrik he asked his daughter to participate in the ritual called ‘nakhdarpan’ that is using the thumb as a mirror for viewing images of souls!
The rituals were performed withn the premises near a ‘pukhari’, that is, a pond.
The tantrik applied black made from a lamp using mustard oil on her thumb-nail, and after performing some rituals asked to see whether she saw some images of old men on the blackened nail.
When she confirmed she saw four of them, he asked what else she saw. She said she saw the pool. He then asked her whether she saw her aunt’s necklace. The reply was in the affirmative. Then cautioning her to properly see the location of the necklace she was asked to take them to that location.
However, the process had to be repeated as the young school girl got confused at the site. However, in the second attempt she went to the right location and picked the necklace out of the pond!
The sister then came to believe that it might have slipped out when she had taken in the morning some utensils to the pond for cleaning. All were relieved and were glad they didn’t go to the police for initially they suspected it could be the handiwork of their poor maid…and primarily for that reason they thought of the tantrik...
‘I’ heard many such stories about ‘miracles’ being performed by people, called tantriks, during my stay in the northeast – for benefit to one sometimes at the cost of some other(s).
‘I’ also learned about mustard seeds being used by them for confining some inferior souls that was controlled by them at one location within, say, a football bladder (as told to me by a friend) that is placed in a tin box covered with mustard seeds. The confined soul housed at some location was used by them anywhere for performing those ‘miracles’! This made me recall my mother also taking some mustard seeds in her hand when we looked disturbed. She would revolve her palm over our heads, and would throw the seeds into water. The simple process was apparently performed in ‘Indian’ homes since time unknown and was called ‘rai parakhna’, i.e., testing with mustard seeds…
Mustard oil was till recent past also generally used for lighting Diwali lamps all over ‘north India’, and the festival is called ‘KALI PUJA’ in Bengal…And, the colours, Green leaves and Yellow flowers are noticeable is the mustard plant the seeds of which are either reddish or blackish in appearance (like the essence of tea leaves boiled in water is called ‘lal cha’ that is ‘Red Tea’ in Bengali, while in north India it is called ‘black tea’ - whatever be the colour the drink cheers all!) …
Shri Aswini Kini had indicated how knowledge acquired in the past in ‘advanced India’ for treatment through herbs etc got lost. For information, one would also learn about use in ‘ancient India’ of tele-therapy, that is, use of ‘mantras’ or sound energy by sages or gurus, that is, ‘elevated souls’ for curing the sick from a remote location, the distance being variable depending on the expertise of the individual concerned.
The thought was based on the realization of one Supreme Soul (SS, not ‘secret service’ though, although it ever remains secret!) that wasn’t approachable, being pure energy, while the souls hidden confined within a physical form due to transformation a fraction of the energy into matter were rendered inferior to the SS.
The apparent hierarchy in all aspects of ‘Nature’ was thus understood on account of the elevations of souls within the given physical form (perhaps as a parallel in ‘Nature’, one could find it in the process of ‘fractional distillation’ of the ‘black gold’ or Petroleum that results in different end products). Therefore the heavier or relatively more massive bodies indicated more energy consumed in their formation. Thus perhaps the phenomenon also gets reflected in the apparent formation of ‘Black Holes’ after the ‘death of a massive star’, five or more than 5 times the mass of our Sun as the datum, an average star that proves more useful to ‘animal life’ on earth!
And, Ganesha the elephant headed deity is called ‘Lamboder’ that is ‘big bellied’, and is believed a storehouse of energy/ knowledge!
Talking of treatment of illnesses, the thought of ‘my’ maternal uncle’s experience comes to ‘my’ mind, although ‘I’ have earlier also narrated it in detail. He suffered from gout and as is wont to happen with anyone who suffers from a chronic ailment, he too had tested all systems of medicines, but unfortunately with no success…At that stage when he was experiencing severe pain in his knees he was advised by a well-wisher to contact a Muslim gentleman…
The said gentleman was standing in his house duly suited and booted. And, as soon as uncle had uttered one sentence about his gout, the gentleman struck the wooden floor (the house being located at the foot-hill of the cold Himalayan region), the gentleman struck the floor three times with his boot!
Uncle was shocked, and only when asked, he noticed that his pain was gone – he was so relieved! However, this state of bliss lasted only three days, for at the end of that period the pain recurred!
He went again to him. And, this time the gentleman drew with a black crayon a circle (about 8-9 inch in diameter) and wrote something in Urdu around its periphery and asked ‘my uncle’ to look at the figure even if he didn’t understand what he had written. He told ‘me’ that he didn’t feel any pain as long as he looked at the figure, but experienced it when he looked away from it!
On being informed that, the gentleman said that the soul that possesses my uncle was beyond him, and that he needed someone who was superior to him! Still, he offered for a few days the amulet that was given by his Guru for protecting him from evil eyes! Uncle said that for about 4 days he kept the amulet in his pocket - before returning it to its rightful owner - and didn’t experience any pain!
‘I’ might add that the above was narrated to me by ‘my’ uncle perhaps 15 - 20 years ago, and then he had surrendered to ‘fate’ when ‘I’ met him about 8 years ago... Perhaps he is just under 80 years of age…And recently when it had almost became impossible for him to walk, ‘I’ learned that he has undergone knee-replacement operation in one leg only at the first instance…
Reading between lines, a ‘seeker’ could perhaps establish some relationship, or maybe gain some knowledge from the belief carried forward in ‘India’ (the name derived perhaps from ‘Indu’, meaning Moon in Sanskrit, which is associated with Yellow colour associated with Guru or sage Brihaspati that is Jupiter also a ringed planet, like Saturn!) through ages that Rahu-Shani (perhaps Ultra-violet rays and Blue colour/ steel or iron associated with planet Saturn, and maybe ‘Neelamber’ Krishna/ planet Venus that also is associated with Blue, representing the intermediate stage of the one who wasn’t fully evolved yet to the ‘Yellow garment’ or ‘Peetamber’ stage as the most evolved one at the end of Satyuga, oly when ‘amrit’ or immortality was attained by ‘devtas’) are considered responsible for surgical operations/ accidents…
When one talks of treatment of various ailments, one might like to consider Acupuncture, irrespective of where it came to be practiced first.
In the Gita one can read Krishna tell Arjuna that he was only a medium with whom Krishna was attached since time immemorial. The only difference between the two personalities was that while Arjuna was aware only of his present life, Krishna knew all about him since the very beginning! And, the acupuncturists indicate man as an electrochemical system having 12 main channels running through the body that connect all the vital organs. These channels have windows that allow solar/ cosmic energy to reach the inside and become available for sustenance of the body. However, choking of these windows result in the energy not reaching the inner system of channels…and one can use good conductors of energy to connect the exterior with the interior and thus help energy to reach inside where needed. Thus the solution of treatment reduces to knowing what channels are blocked and the windows that are needed to be opened…
The world popular character of Jesus Christ also perhaps indicates humans as instruments to also act as medium for transfer of energy through mere touch with fingers, also used in the system of treatment called ‘acupressure’…and also possibility of transfer the energy from long distances also as seen in “Reiki’ (like the ancient practice of tele-therapy through use of sound energy in ancient ‘India’)…
‘I’ can’t say why Arjuna-like ‘I’ saw only the ‘bird’s eye’ in the year ’82 in a bookshop in Guwhati for buying a birthday greeting card only, and who guided ‘me’ to see the book on ‘Acupressure’ only, (it’s title printed on its spine “Acupuncture without Needles” – Cerney’ out of many amongst those stacked in the racks), in English written by an American doctor and buy it too, for ‘my wife’ those days was undergoing acupuncture for her chronic illness by practitioners inspired by some Bengali doctor who had learnt the art at some place in China. And for one half of an hour she virtually played the role of a pin-cushion - every alternate day!
And, it was my brother-in-law who was instrumental in ‘my wife’ then, in the same year, undergo treatment by Ayurvedic doctors, for a few months only, for although swelling of the knuckle-joints etrc reduced slightly, she became extremely anemic and lay in bed…an experience similar to the one after ‘homoeopathic treatment’ earlier in the year ’80 (after getting rid of the steroids introduced by an allopath in North Bengal in ‘77, after treatment in CMC, Vellore, Tamil Nadu in ’78 - thanks to some ‘South Indian’ well-wishers), and therefore needing a switch over to ‘allopathic treatment’…
Perhaps 'my wife' was instrumental in introducing 'me' to Yogiraja Krishna who believably resides within all. And, therefore, 'I' read the Gita immediately after 'my' return to the land of the Pandavas, Indraprastha that is New Delhi...
Kavitha, ‘I’ know that visitors to your blog do not easily react still ‘I’ would like one to ponder over the apparent fact that a character named ‘Manmohan’ even today apparently rules over ‘India’, and in place of Neelamber Krishna’s tell-tale peacock’s blue feather in His crown, he wears a blue turban.
And, Blue colour was believed to rule the entire earth in the beginning when ‘churning’ was just started, as indicated by the apparent emergence of poison (that turns one’s skin blue) that was believably consumed by Shiva the Neelkantha or the blue throated – and he also has locks of hairs on his head as were believably sported by Shiva!
Hindus say "Satyam Shivam Sunderam" and "Satyamev Jayate"!
Hi Joshi uncle,Is it a fact that "Manmohan"really rules India? I think the guiding force behind him is someone else & his apparent rule is only a"Maya"
Hi Dr Anilji, You have also said the ‘truth’ by placing ‘Manmohan’, (like ‘I’ did), and believably Krishna’s ‘Maya’, both within inverted commas (referring to Gita, where Krishna says that he is seen by everyone, because of ‘maya’ to reside within all)!
In the ‘present’, ‘Mayawati’ rules Uttar Pradesh, literally the northern region, which includes Krishna’s (or ‘Manmohan’s) Mathura-Vrindaban from Lucknow (longitude 80 degree east) close to Shiva’s Kashi (longitude 83 degree east). But, she has her eyes on the ‘throne of New Delhi’! Krishna that is ‘Manmohan’, is believed to act on behalf of Vishnu, who has many incarnations, although generally ‘dashavatars’ are referred (like Dashanan/ Dasharath represent the magnitude of achievement by souls in human forms, from bottom to top, that is minus or plus respectively)…It was in ‘Mohini’ literally attractive (“soni”, in Punjabi, say) form (Moon, not referred as one of those ten forms) that Vishnu rendered ‘devtas’ or demi-godes ‘amrit’ that is immortal…
As ‘I’ read it, ‘vedantis’ believed in existence of only one Supreme Soul or ‘Paramatma’ the Nadbindu that is a dot as the source of infinite energy, and all physical forms including ‘animal forms’, headed by human form, as His Own images. However, His true images, in the form of heavenly bodies was believed to be the infinite universe with our planet earth-moon as its model or essence, and in human form as Ardhanarishwar Shiva, having His original abode at Kashi that is the present day Varanasi…
However, although Shiva’s inert form is represented by Ma Ganga, His youth is represented by Narmada Valley, as it is reflected in the stories indicated by Krishna in his younger days studied on its bank in Sage Sandipani’s hermitage before ruling his empire from Dwarika in Gujarat. His evolved form as a householder is reflected by His marriage with Parvati and deciding to live in the Himalayas at ‘Kailash’ as the omnipotent and omnipresent…
Dr Anilji, The realization of ‘India’s’ (that is, the 'east's') supremacy by the ‘west’, through the leader of the nerds, is indicated as a reflection of God’s mysterious ways of giving importance to geeks, the intellectuals (read the Gita), by ‘Bush’ wanting to unite with ‘India’ led by ‘Manmohan’ – the foundation for it laid by ‘Atal’!
In the childhood, in the ‘materially poor India’, ‘we’ used to play a game that in retrospect is seen by ‘me’, the relatively more evolved soul, as also representing the human life drama involving souls in human form...
Thinking it aloud in an attempt to recall it from memory, we used to place on the ground a heavier piece, i.e., say one half of a brick (it could be visualized as the ‘Mooladhar’). Over this piece we used to place (‘I’ think) seven numbers flat stone pieces, generally marble stone’s, to form a tower-like temporary structure (imagine it as the other ‘chakras’ as indicated by the yogis that are believably involved in the formation of any human body by ‘ashta-chakras’, i.e., essences of total 8 selected members of the solar system)…
Two teams were formed and the start of the game was decided by toss of a coin. One of the members of that team - from some distance decided in advance and a line driven on the ground - would then attempt to shatter the tower with a canvas ball. If he failed, the next member of that team would then attempt it. If he, or anyone after him, succeeded (like bacteria/ virus the ‘destructive forces’ overcoming ‘constructive forces’ for some time in the beginning to result in some illness) the team members then attempted to remake the tower by collecting the pieces again from the ground, whereas the members of the other team attempted to hit any one of the team members with the ball picked up from the location where it had travelled. If they succeeded in doing so, it was then the turn of the other team to repeat the process…
‘I’ have earlier also narrated messages ‘I’ read contained in some other games we played as children, viz. skipping of rope; games with marbles; kite flying, etc. And messages ‘I’ read through ‘my’ experience related with mosquitoes, cats and dogs, and even in the apparent behaviours of ‘non-living’ materials, such as ordinary dust, unfurling of the national flag on the Independence or Republic Days, which to ‘me’ appeared similar to human life behaviours and thus pointing towards hints left in ‘Nature’ by the unseen Creator, the special form of energy called Supreme Soul, as messages for humans, the believable head of all ‘inferior animal life forms’, or souls…who unfortunately as part of the grand design due to inherent characteristic property of time remained ignorant of the actual available potential in humans during Kaliyuga, obviously as it is conveyed as the ‘ Dark Age’ – humans thus indicated as ‘Apsmara Purush’ under Natraj Shiva’s right leg!
There are 81 cells in the temple, hence was it dedicated to 64 yoginis or 81 yoginis. Vidya Dehejia mentions a Matottara Tantra which mentions chakra formations of 64 yoginis as well as of 81 yoginis. Many other yogini temples are dedicated to 64 yoginis only however here at Bhedaghat we have a temple of 81 yoginis probably. Whats your thought on this?
'Hindus' considered ten (10) directions to define a sphere / human form. As per accepted practices, traditionally, the front represents direction East (where our Sun rises), back West, left North, and right South.
And, Brahma thus reportedly has four faces... Say, symbolically represented by a pyramid in the west, as in Egypt, or a Vimana in Hindu temple in the east that helps to naturally generate pyre amid the structure, ie, Agni to 'Hindus' as one of the five Bhootas, or tatvas ie, basic element out of the five that are believed necessary to form a physical body...
And, 'fire', or heat energy, always tends to move upwards, while another important element, 'water', tends to naturally flow downwards and needs heat energy, provided by Sun the physical source of 'fire', to move upwards, towards the 'Sky' or space, as clouds, which with the help of 'Air', perhaps the most important element for human life on earth, sets up the SW monsoon winds, as if a vacuum pump is located in the NE direction in 'India' and hence emergence of the 'golden bird' thanks to the Grand Design of the formless or Big Zero the eternally expanding Universe that, for creation of the physical univese, started with Brhmnad, Om (ॐ, representing the three-in-one god, with forms, Brahma,Vishnu & Mahesh), or Big Bang by a dot-like being called Nadbindu, or formless Vishnu who reclines in the middle of the infinity or Anant Nag the celestial serpent, or Vishdhar, Mahahiva the solar system, (Navgrahas, ie, nine members of which, from SUN to SATURN, are believed to have gone in to the human form, as model of universe and also Gangadhar Shiva, ie, EARTH itself!)...
Thus if you consider ')' also then 9x9 would result in 81 Yoginis, however in the human form essence of Saturn is believed gone in to the creation of the Nervous system...
And, 'Agni', or 'fire' that is energy, is unseen and indestructible, like soul believed existing within each human form, like gravitational force in a 'heavenly body', such as our planet Earth (Gangadhar Shiva in whose heart, or centre resides Ma Kali)!!
The ten directions conveyed through names in Treta yuga, the third stage of evolution of our 'Milky Way Galaxy' as the yet to enter in to the fourth and final stage of evolution, the Satya Yuga, ie, Dashratha the king of Ayodhya, and his arch rival, or opposite in nature, Dashanan the ten headed demon, or 'Rakshasa'. If Dashratha is considered positive, or in terms of earth the North Pole, while Dashanan is negative, or South Pole
Any numbers of words are insufficient to convey one that is ZERO, or formless! And, hence OM alone can express the Absolute Truth!
Calling every sub-religious group a "cult" would be wrong. Cults usually have a negative association to them and therefore should be avoided. Please try another names like "group" or "Sangh" to signify a group.
Regards,
S.N.
S.N. unfortunately you are reading the word "cult" that way. The dictionary meaning of cult doesnt associate it with anything negative, it states that is a system of worship associated with rituals and religion and there is nothing wrong or negative about it.
Certainly you have not understood the meaning of "sangh". Cults are not driven by people but by ideologies that people follow. In a cult the God is worshiped and not the ruling god head or Guru or community leader so to speak. SO all in all I stick with the word Cult and i dont think Sangh is a good replacement.
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