The complexity of India art, ritual and belief system can be simplified into two forms of worship and adoration. One is for the miracle of death which is realized in the worship of ancestors in which the quest for afterlife and rebirth are dwelled upon and the other is for the miracle of life that is realized in creation and its constant presence around us in the world. This is pronounced in the depth of both Hinduism and Buddhism.
Indra with a staffThis potent belief of Indra's staff was further explored by Ashoka in the kingdom of Magadha, where he spread his faith on Dharma by placing edicts across his kingdom in the form of Ashoka Pillars. The Ashoka pillars stand for spiritualism and pure living, they teach the value of dharma and exude his imperialism across Magadha. But what were these pillars and what was their significance?
The pillars were not just a list of rules for better living surmounted by a lion signifying imperialism. These pillars in their very construct were the symbolism of the "Tree of Life" that stems from the pot of water placed at the bottom from which rises the shaft( yashti) of the pillar(stambha). The "Tree of Life" flowers into a lion capital or into an architectural unit depicted on temple walls in later years(photo below with pillars marked in white) but primarily re-emphasizing on the root principle of water cosmology.
Airavateshwara Temple, North wall, Darasuram near KumbhakonamThe "Tree of Life", was symbolized by Ashoka when he erected his pillars with engraved edicts and placed them into the earth by digging a pit and covering it with water or placed an earthen pot full of water at the base inside the pit from which rises the shaft of the pillar. This architectural unit of a water-pot based pillar signifies the potency of the miracle of life and its constant presence in this world as we know it.
Meanwhile far away in the interior forests of the Hindu Brahmanical countryside way back in an era even before Ashoka probably, another version of the potent "Tree of Life" took shape. Going back into the realm of Lord Shiva, there runs a mythical story on Lord Shiva and Parvati (Mother Goddess). After their wedlock they returned to Kailasa and retreated into the caves of this divine mountain. For eons they remained here, in union away from all the worlds. Meanwhile, there was trouble in Devaloka and on earth as the Asuras had again begun to harass the devas and other mortals. This disturbed the Rishis, Devas and other Gods and they came to the cave entrance seeking Lord Shiva's help to vanquish the charging Asuras. Realizing that they were unable to awaken Lord Shiva out of his marital bliss, they decided to step into the cave. Deep within the cave, the Lord and His consort, lay in union. Parvati was taken by surprize on the sudden entry of the heavenly folk, and in order to save her embarassment, she picks up a full bloomed lotus and covers her face.
This moment, of Parvati attempting to cover her embarassment (Lajja) has been depicted in sculpture as Lajja Gauri showing her face covered with the lotus as well as her holding a lotus bud in each hand signifying fertility, life and creation. Her raw beauty has been depicted without any subtlety, her moment of union with Lord Shiva has been captured by the scuptor. Dr. Ramachandra C. Dhere in his book "Lajja Gauri" describes her womb to represent an earthen pot. This representation brings alive the original concept of the miracle of living where the "Tree of Life" is represented by progeny and lineage. The potency of the life giving waters in water cosmology is metaphorically represented by the waters within the yoni of the woman.
This echoes the same symbolism with which Ashoka erected his edicts around Magadha. These waters are considered enpowering and they render the living all powerful and brings prosperity. Such was the depth of belief in Indian iconography and representation in Indian art.
Photo courtesy:
Indra with staff: Christopher Tadgell is Senior Lecturer in Architectural History at the School of Architecture, Canterbury College, Kent Institute of Art and Design 1996, http://www.ellipsis.com/history/
Ashoka Pillar: © Lexicon of Greek Personal Names. All rights reserved.
Lajja Gauri: Naganatha Temple, Naganathakolla, Bijapur District, India. Badami Museum, Item B36 Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), government photograph. Date c. 650 CE. Image scanned by uploader from Bolon, Carol Radcliffe, Forms of the Goddess Lajja Gauri in Indian Art, The Pennsylvania State University Press (University Park, Penn., 1992)
This image is in the public domain in India because its term of copyright has expired.
Airaveteshwara temple: commons.Wikipedia.org
28 comments:
Kavitha
Having an open mind is a haulmark of Indian culture & hence the apparent diaspora & multiplicity of thoughts !
Was pleased to read the reference of Dr.R.C.Dhere ,agreat scholar who was recently felicitated bt the Government Of Maharashtra with lifetime achievement award."Lajjagauri" is his masterpiece.Besides the mother goddess ,He has so far studied God Vithoba,Shambhu Mahadev Of Shikhar Shinganapur,Tulaja Bhawani of Tulajapur..He has a unique approach to his studies of different dieties.He gives immense importance to the various Myths & folklores that are prevalent.tries to rationalize them & believes that the form that a particular diety takes is a direct result of the faiths & beliefs that the devotees have in their mind.
What a mature character needs to first of all be clear about is the basic ‘Hindu concept’ of ‘Maya’ that is illusion as seen in the commonly used line used at all times and all places in ‘India that was Mahabharat’ since time immemorial, maybe only like a parrot or a tape recorder replaying it, “Prabhu ki maya or leela (that is drama)”. The ‘wise Hindus’ were made to realize god to be ‘unborn’ and ‘unending’…
It means to say that the truth was conveyed by the formless creator that what all we, the characters in the drama, see is merely a projection in the ‘third or mind’s eye’ of Shiva the Bhootnath the Lord of the Past. And, therefore, the advice of remaining ‘stithapragya’, that is, remaining unmoved under all circumstances – just as when we are supposed to remain unmoved when we read/ watch a work of fiction… That’s why we get to see some characters that, having understood the truth, become quiet and are called Munis.
However, because the formless creator has some other purpose of its own, ‘we’, the various other characters, also get to see a variety of other characters, who express as truth their own interpretation and that’s why we apparently get to see innumerable versions of the same event and maybe thus everyone remains ignorant despite believably being ‘experts’ in different apparent fields of life, which unfortunately is illusory :-)
Kavitha, Once at a given point in time, irrespective of apparent age of one’s exterior form in the apparent life of a soul - that is related with time and space zero and is entrapped within and ready to escape any moment - a mature seeker could externally also become aware of the truth already conveyed by the ‘wise ancients’ - if it be His will.
And the individual could then become conscious that time available on one’s hand to waste might not be much as expressed in the adage, to the effect, “What you want to do tomorrow/ do it today. What you want to do today/ do it now. For you mightn’t be left with any time as doomsday can happen any moment.”
The statement, however, is indicated not to be taken on its face value. Reading between lines, the ‘wise ancients’ indicated the only purpose of man on earth was to realize the formless god as well as gods in physical forms, which also was anyway expressed in the saying that man is a model of the universe, or an image of god…
As far as human life is concerned, everyone is perhaps aware that the exterior physical form will merge with the apparently permanent dust at some point of time in ‘future’ – just as all other life forms apparently do it since time immemorial. And, that point of time doesn’t become easily known to the average man, except perhaps as believed to some ‘elevated souls’. But then there apparently are various other characters, palmists, astrologers, and so on, present in the ‘market’ to make a guess about your future life - but in the present form only…And, maybe, neither you will ask them, nor would they tell you about your possible absolute origin, that believably is the Supreme Soul as per the ‘wise ancient souls’.
This phenomenon is explained by the ‘wise ancients’ to occur because one, as an instrument, is designed to look outwards when in Kaliyuga, or Dwaperyuga, or Tretayuga, and even till the end of Satyuga, as the formless creator, Nadbindu, believably would have done when it originally would have started the creation with the ‘Brahmanad’ that is ‘Big Bang’ to achieve ‘amrit’ or ‘ananta’…
There is a saying in Hindi, to the effect, “The buffalo belongs to the one who holds the staff.” And the immobile formless creator is known as omnipotent and, therefore, must surely be competent to own and control the entire creation!
However, to manage such a vast empire seated, or/ rather virtually sleeping at one place, as Vishnu is supposed to ever remain reclined on a bed of Sheshnag in the middle of the ocean of milk, He needs to vest power on some other powerful characters.
Indra, as the character responsible for rain, obviously indicates it to be our Sun, the source of ‘fire’. With the help of ‘air’, it is responsible for the annual S-W monsoon in ‘India’ and thus in setting up of water-cycle that connects the sea (the saline water held by ‘earth’ in the vast depressions between coastal regions of continents formed by their land mass that holds and sustains a grand variety of innumerable aquatic life forms) with clouds that carry potable water as it falls mainly on the land mass in ‘India’, thanks to the Himalayan ranges.
This water alone is responsible for sustenance of human life, besides innumerable other life forms also, on earth (in air, surface of earth and underground), including in the water bodies; viz., rivers, lakes (natural and man-made), ponds, and so on…
Among all life forms, man apparently holds the biggest staff, as he alone has the natural capability to use small, as well as big and powerful external tools that help some among humans that is souls in human forms even to escape into space from earth’s gravity, and till now have managed to land a few men on the surface of moon (perhaps the supplier of souls, as it is believed to have evolved from the heart of earth itself that believably is the abode of Sati/ Kali the ‘Shakti’ or energy), although to return back to earth again because of inhospitable environment found there…perhaps just as tiger in a zoo becomes unfit to return to the forest that once was its natural habitat…
In the Hindu Mythological stories all deities are associated with some animal form used as vehicle to perhaps remind one of evolution of human form, as a model of universe, only when the soul has passed through 8.4 million animal forms. And among all animals, elephant is recognized as powerful and capable of being domesticated comparatively easily for use in various purposes.
The story of evolution represented through the ‘churning of milky ocean’ indicates appearance of Airavat the white elephant at a certain stage. It was believably given to Indra the raingod, and thus he came to be known as ‘Airavateshwar’ the god who rode the white elephant.
Thus the interesting narration can help a seeker of ‘truth’ to relate the king of ‘devtas’ or demigods, Indra, with our powerful Sun the source of white light. And, sun is understood as the source of direct or indirect energy on earth for sustaining all life forms upon it.
Also, as we have seen earlier elsewhere, Sun is cryptically associated with Brahma too, by relating his consort Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, who is depicted clad in a white sari. And also, Brahma is depicted seated on a lotus flower that grew from the navel of Vishnu! Maybe thus in the story the lotus flower that Parvati, as Lajja Gauri, used in order to cover her face, relates Her in a symbolic form with Vishnu the powerful four handed sudershan-chakra-dhari of the Hindu mythological story, while on the other hand, she is also associated with four handed Shiva. And thus Mother Durga is depicted symbolically as eight-handed and is shown to ride the tiger, another powerful quadruped that isn’t easily tamed for use in the day-to-day human life! And, one knows how Mother & and the Unborn Child are linked in the womb, the conception vessel through the navel…
An average character that forms the majority among humans thus can be visualized comparable to the majority of heavenly bodies seen in the innumerable galaxies that fill the universal dark void, that is, Stars…And Brahma that is our Sun can be visualized as their leader that acts as the main driving force in the believable ‘essence of the universe’, that is, the solar system, whose essence is indicated as our Gangadhar Earth.
And as a hint in the Gita, for example, Krishna claims himself as the provider of the driving force or energy to heavenly bodies, sun and moon, both, which thus links him with the centre of our ‘Milky Way Galaxy’ where a super gravity ‘Black Hole’ is believed to be housed.
Also, the mythological stories cryptically indicate Moon as the provider of the sacred most potable water in the River Ganges on earth, while indicating presence of Ganga also in the ‘sky’ as well as underground, as ‘Akash Ganga’ and ‘Patal Ganga’ respectively…
Although these make very interesting reading, 'Hindu' mythological stories thus need to be read between lines by the ‘seekers of truth’, and perhaps thus one can imagine why essential overall knowledge has been advised by Yogis or the “Siddhas” who considered Krishna as Yogiraja the king of Yogis, and Shiva as Yogeshwar the God of Yogis, that is, the Supreme form of Krishna indicated in the story of Mahabharat that Arjuna the expert archer could realise only when he was convinced of the truth, or ‘Maya’ that is illusion by his friend and advisor Krishna…
The ‘wise Hindus’, called Vedantis, such as Adi Shankara in the recent past for example, apparently realized in reality the existence of one and only Supreme Soul that is related with time and space zero, and the entire apparent physical world as His dream or thoughts… And as per Hindu beliefs, each individual is supposed to seek the truth within oneself as a component of the formless creator believably exists within all physical forms also…
‘I’ have thus, apparently logically, come to believe ‘Maya’ to mean projection of the formless creator’s past during apparent time. That is, His rise from zero to plus infinity, and so on, to cover the entire 360 degrees of space with the apparently balancing opposites (which perhaps can be understood symbolically through the Tangent Theta curve – that ranges between minus infinity to plus infinity with zero as the datum. The present day mathematicians have also adopted ‘8’ written horizontally to indicate infinity, whereas ‘wise ancient Hindus’, realizing human brain as an analogous computer as it is learnt so in the ‘present’ also , graphically also indicated the omnipotent Vishnu, the ananta Hari in human form, to recline in the middle of ‘the milky ocean’ on the bed formed by the celestial serpent ‘Ananta’, or ‘Sheshanag’, where ‘shesha’ means balance energy on hand, thus cryptically conveying that God can sleep peacefully for He has infinite energy still left as balance on His hand, whereas man in general throughout one’s life remains mentally disturbed!
The ‘wise ancients’, through Gita for example, indicate lack of overall knowledge in humans as the basic cause of all ‘wrong acts’…
‘Satya’ in Sanskrit is translated as ‘truth’, which for a ‘wise ancient Hindu’ was indicated as that which apparently remained unaffected with the passage of time. Thus the ever changing exterior form of ‘my own’ was realized as ‘asatya’ or ‘untruth’. However, the ‘wise ancient Hindus’ also indicated only that as ‘truth’ which remained unchanged within ‘me’, who called itself ‘I’ at all times during ‘my’ life time and responded to whatever name(s) or pseudonym given to the exterior body by the parents, or any other name or pseudonym adopted at any other time for whatever reason deemed fit from time to time.
The nervous systems - primarily the Central Nervous System along the spinal column called ‘merudand’ by ‘Hindus’, that is, literally Mount Meru acting as a staff/ a ‘strong spindle of a churner’ used for ‘churning’ of milk for extracting the ‘satva’ or cream as the essence, and also as a symbol of strength as in a flag-staff compared to the relatively flimsy flag made from cloth - within the human body play a vital role in communication of thoughts that are processed centrally in the brain that acts as the Commander–in-Chief...nerves are believably related with planet Saturn...
“Satyam Shivam Sunderam” conveys formless Shiva, represented by a lingam, as the only ‘satya’ that is truth, or ‘satva’ that is essence of the universe…
In view of the above, the human form, represented by Krishna the 8th avatara of ananta Vishnu, i.e., ‘8’, can be visualized to be formed of two vessels, the ‘governing vessel’ that holds the brain in the ‘shasrara’ and the ‘conception vessel’ that holds the unborn in the ‘mooladhar’, while the ‘merudand’ or the spinal column acts symbolically as the churner to raise the essence from the root to the top from where it gets distributed as the ‘fruit’ of action, which can be Tamasic, Rajasic, or Sattvic that alone is believably counted for granting ‘moksha’!
Hi Joshi uncle,
"However, because the formless creator has some other purpose of its own, ‘we’, the various other characters, also get to see a variety of other characters, who express as truth their own interpretation and that’s why we apparently get to see innumerable versions of the same event and maybe thus everyone remains ignorant despite believably being ‘experts’ in different apparent fields of life, which unfortunately is illusory :-)"
Amazing concept and well put though i had to read it twice. :) Its so true that people including myseelf think we are experts of a illusion and the real truth is apparently else where!
But the more i think about it, and have indicated, the truth is not just life as we see it, but the power of it within us which we completely miss out. But all the sciences we read abt are exprssions of the same truth in various forms.
Spiritualism is the only "science" that can give a combined logical explanation to all othr illusory events.
regds
Kavitha
Joshi Uncle
In the post i wanted to add Brahma rising out Vishnu's navel in a lotus as another form of tree of life. I thought i would end up confusing people so i left it. But it can be paralleled with the same thought.
Regds
Kavitha
Kavitha, In the Gita, similarity between humans and trees is expressed in the statement that man is an inverted tree. That is, his roots are in the ‘sky’, unlike those of trees directly in the ‘earth’...man is believed to be the model of the universe utilising for its formation the essences of the selected members of the solar system...
Present day scientists also believe trees to be cousins of humans. These are complementary to human life, for the plant life use, as their food, Carbon Dioxide that humans exhale. And, in return these provide life-giving Oxygen that man inhales as an involuntary action.
Yogis, however, through ‘Pranayam’ that is controlled breathing, attempt to regulate consciously the time of inhalation and exhalation to say just 4 per minute. The figure was apparently arrived based on scientific research by observing the rate of breathing in animals, vis-Ã -vis their average life spans. They found that tortoise lived for long and its rate of breathing was the lowest. The animal is also believed to be the second incarnation of Vishnu!
Hindu belief in essence tells ‘us’ that it is ‘our souls’, various images of the one and only Supreme soul that is the VIP. And that each soul after passing through around 8.4 million animal forms, now rests in the mooladhar of the ‘present day’ animal forms/ centre of heavenly bodies as their temporary abodes.
And, the story related with Shiva’s beginning and end remaining unknown even to Vishnu and Brahma, respectively, conveys that it is impossible for any character to know the purpose of the formless/ inert Shiva of the Trimurty, Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha….
Thus with the above in mind, ‘I’ am aware that during my stay in this form, in this short life of just under seven decades itself, the concerned soul, (together with its believable abode in ‘my’ human form), has taken shelter in open air or underground and also in many ‘material’ abodes, in ‘India’ and outside ‘India’ also. Although, maybe, for periods ranging from a few minutes to a few days, or some years…
And, only it would perhaps be possible for the Supreme Knowledge to know all the places where ‘my soul’ has stayed in different forms. As also SK’s purpose in choosing ‘me’, the ‘good for nothing’ character (say, compared to SRK, the most popular ‘Bollywood character’ at this point in time, and so also the ‘superstars’ of yesteryears), during this particular day of Brahma, each of which, in His unending life, is believed to be over 4 billion years!
The tree of life (the shaft of ‘fire’, ‘water’, ‘air’, and so on, as it is referred in the various mythological stories) thus perhaps will ever remain unknown to man, and known only to SK!
‘Moksha’ that is ‘salvation’ and other such words used by ‘wise characters’ in the ‘past’ indicate merger of one’s soul into the Supreme Soul (SS).
The Yogis, however, realizing 'God' the SS to be related with zero time and space, came to believe/ realize it could only be reached through attaining a thoughtless state - a virtually impossible task for an average householder.
Thus Yogis apparently withdrew to isolated locations.
And, perhaps after they took ‘samadhi’, that is their physical forms were separated from their souls, these separated souls perhaps acted as locations of various ‘Tirthas’, the places of pilgrimage for average householders for their souls to perhaps receive their blessings.
While, on the other hand, these perhaps helped in communication of knowledge directly to seekers' souls, because of similar thought plane or mind set, and depending on their capabillities. The ‘wise ancients’ understood souls to carry the recorded information of its ‘past’…and man as only an instrument!
As it is understood by the ‘wise Hindus’ to be beyond human reach to find the purpose of God in the unending creation, it is generally believed that human life is meant to be enjoyed just as one enjoys a film!
Based on the above thought, ‘I’ give below a reaction to an article in ‘my’ newspaper…
___________________________
This refes to Sub Verse article Inflation & oil bears by Shri Jug Suraiaya (June 26).
Like “From falling fry-pan into fire”, It is perhaps falling from ‘Sagar Matha’ the Mount Everest in Nepal, (referred by JS in ‘Arushi murder case’, through the fictitious character of ‘Jeeves’, a creation of a fictitious character, ‘PG Wodehouse’ in the ‘present’) to the Black Gold inside the belly of Mother Earth*!
*********
[*It’s well known today that our moon evolved from earth itself. And also that Shiva’s consort, Parvati, was the daughter of the Himalayas!]
***********************
The article reflects the versatility of human brain, or / rather its creator’s!
Bears and Bulls immediately teleport the people, who have similar mind-set as the writer has, to the share market… Whereas to a ‘Spiritual’ person, the word ‘bull’ could act as a reminder of Shiva whose vehicle Nandi the Bull is believed to be! And ‘Bear’ could bring to one’s mind the once upon a time pop lines from a song for entertainment of children ina Bollywood film, “Hum bolenge nacho Kalu…Munna (read JS:-) dhol bajayega, Kalu nach dikhayega.” Perhaps the same poet could see today how Bears dance in the share market! And, one might even see the hands of mischievous Krishna the Kalu and his Supreme form: The rider of Nandi the Bull!
But, as Shiva the Bhootnath’s purpose isn’t known to anyone, the drama must perhaps continue, and all characters therefore play their assigned roles till internal pressure (such as that of Gujjars or Gorkhas, or the Left, inflation and so on) results in collapse – as it perhaps happens when Krishna on behalf of Vishnu the dark infinite void of the universe must once again take birth, (as believed by ‘ancient Hindus’ when a Yuga approaches its end)…
The fundamental question, apparently remaining unanswered since time immemorial is generally stated to be: Who am I? And, Yogis believably stated the answer: “I am Him!”
However, in view of what ‘I’ have stated in my comments, perhaps the question needs rewording: Who is the unending ‘I’? And, what is its purpose in presentation of the grand unending drama-like ‘tree of life’?
As part of ‘my’ loud thinking, in the ‘past’ also different versions - of who ‘I’ could possibly be - have apparently been gone into and expressed by innumerable characters from time to time. The essence of which was expressed by some ‘wise characters’ in the statement, “Hari ananta/ Hari katha ananta…” That is, the creator, although formless, reflects itself as an unending multi-faceted personality and, therefore, there apparently are innumerable versions about Him possible at all times…Sant Tulsidas also said, to the effect, “Everyone sees God according to one’s mind set.” That is, “As many mouths, that many versions possible.”
He, in general, is realized as Wonderful by the majority of characters from time to time, at least in the ‘past’. And the ‘present’, it believably being expressed as Kaliyuga, that is, literally the Dark Age, one expected human minds in general to be confused because of the believable emergence of poison on account of the unending ‘churning of the material world’. And only those characters that had the blessings of Mother Parvati were expected to withhold the poison, just as she believably helped Neelkantha Shiva, the ‘blue throated one’ (perhaps also Kalikavatar in human form as His true model or image), to consume ‘halahal’ or ‘kalkoot’ the deadliest poison that no one else was capable of doing when churning had just started!
Is the formless that is in reality zero thus looking for its own best models/ images in various forms during different Yugas? For in the Gita also the ‘wise ancients’, through the character of Krishna, have depicted himself to claim as the best among all different forms of plant, animal, and so on, different forms…and therefore perhaps the advise of Yogis to seek the self…
In the Gita, Yogiraja Krishna is depicted saying to the effect that although there remains nothing new for him to find, still he continues to act every second for sustenance of his creation…and the Hindu mythological stories indicate Krishna, as His 8th incarnation during Dwaperyuga, who worked on behalf of Vishnu the ‘sudershan-chakra-dhari’ (as His model or ‘true copy’ in human form that in an average human being instead believably holds eight ‘chakras’ and hence acts inefficiently).
However, four-handed Vishnu’s absolute true copy, the four-handed Shiva, eventually was indicated to have evolved at the end of Satyuga only. And, in physical form Trimurty Shiva, i.e., Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, in fact, truly represented the formless…and covered the three aspects of creation, sustenance, and destruction, or/ rather transformation, from time to time…
And, perhaps following similar thoughts, Vedantis appear to have eventually realized oneself as one of the innumerable illusory images of the one and only formless energy that is naturally related with time and space zero. And that meant creation and destruction to have occurred in zero or no time!
Thus only a ‘perfect being’ could possibly device means to review the drama in slow motion, which gets reflected, say with ‘advancement in technology’, in watching replays in slow motion of events performed during a minute fraction of a second, in the game of cricket for example…
Thus perhaps one thing becomes absolutely clear that perhaps ‘I’ can frankly say that ‘I’ am a character in the thoughts of that perfect being that in my eyes, or point of view, and through many other eyes also is worthless. But, with the knowledge and belief that there is nothing in the universe that isn’t serving some useful purpose for the creator who, although perfect and therefore there is nothing impossible for it, for some reason known to itself doesn’t want to reveal what it seeks that perhaps it hasn’t found yet through eons! And, therefore, perhaps why its review of its past continues eternally…And, thus ‘I’ can only imagine that one thing (with the belief that it is alone) to be its own creator or mother! Perhaps therefore it is imagining its past history for some character(s) in physical form(s) to lead it to forms similar to earth-moon. These two heavenly bodies symbolically convey ideally the desired relationship of Mother& Child through the four stages of ‘churning’. The creator, apparently being mischievous and mysterious, has indicated in Hindu mythology some characters in human forms that reflect similar relationships in continuity in the popular stories relating to Satyuga, Tretayuga and Dwaperyuga, respectively through the characters of Shiva-Parvati, Lakshamana-Sita, Yudhister- Draupadi!
And, perhaps it finds what it seeks only after review of 1,080 cycles of the repetitive cycles of Mahayugas! For only at the end of over 4 billion years Brahma believably goes to sleep - perhaps satisfied!
Or, maybe, it gives up the search and surrenders due to limitation of its lighting equipment that perhaps works only for just around 4.6 billion years maximum, i.e., the age of our solar system as it is estimated in the ‘present’. As it is also getting reflected in the form of ‘global warming’ and rate of snow melt in the glaciers and Arctic region has shown acceleration in the recent past! And, perhaps it restarts the exercise once again with the start of yet another fresh day of Brahma (our Sun)!
Kavitha, continuing uninterrupted with my loud thoughts...:-)
As ‘I’ had earlier also indicated elsewhere, one could read IV (4) written generally on the left hand palm and VI (6) written on the right hand palm when one viewed through the zero (.) formed by the thumb and index finger. And with the background that Krishna is mysterious as well as mischievous, also thus one can perhaps see the significance of 4.6 billion years as the present estimated age of the solar system.
And, ‘I’ had earlier also indicated by attempting to read the mind of the ‘wise ancients Hindus’, how both the palms turned into fists could be seen to indicate our globe/ solar system as the essence of the universe…
In order to convince ‘myself’ of attempted communication through hints by the all knowing perfect being, ‘I’ had earlier elsewhere indicated how ‘I’ had arrived (after an insight into the minds of palmists) at the conclusions. That the thumb represents planet Mars, its essence reflected by Orange colour. And that the little finger represents the balance energy at the heart of our earth, through its essence reflected by Red colour, and both these digits numbers 1 & 2 are linked together as the material form and the energy contained within it – the general ‘Hindu concept’ of Yoga that is fusion.
Similarly, numbers 3 (gap between little finger and ring finger) & 4 represented by the ring finger represent respectively planet Jupiter and our Sun. And, similarly number 5 is planet Mercury represented by the gap between ring and middle finger, while this finger represents planet Venus as number 6…and astrologers indicate planet Saturn as a friend of planet Venus, called Shukra in Sanskrit (whose essence is housed in Shiva’s/ human throat, and both planets Saturn and Venus are related with Blue colour and metal Iron), and Saturn to be the son of Sun!
Thus, ‘I’ have come to believe the magical figure 4.6 (i.e., IV.VI - the mirror images of each other) reflected jointly by ‘my’ left and right palms respectively…the two hemispheres of earth that together make the complete globe – Gangadhar Shiva…
Although ‘I’ apparently marches alone, similarly it’s ‘me’ that thinks loudly in the ‘present’ that in fact is His past!
‘I’ give below a reaction to an article in newspaper ‘I’ sent…’I’ feel maybe He alone is able to laugh at His own foolishness when He was still evolving and had innumerable confused forms, particularly at the beginning of the churning, as He reviews His Stories…
This refers to the Jugular Vein article ‘Gold rush’, reflecting unique characteristic property of ‘Indians’ – of ‘multitasking’, the thought perhaps triggered by the article ‘One thing at a time is better’, for one word makes the brain, an analogous computer, to reel out chains of other related words (STOI, June 29).
If someone really wants to know, ‘Indian’s’, or/ rather one’s mind, one needs to understand it from the realization of ‘wise ancient Hindus’, as well as Christians, who stated man as ‘the model of the universe’ or an ‘image of God’ - reflecting the formless creator’s brain…
It, or He, unfortunately for its/ His different appearing images, however, is related with time and space ‘zero’ (0). And, therefore, it is obvious that creation of the physical universe as well as its destruction would have occurred within no time, like the click of a ‘magician’s finger’!
In view of the above, in the ‘present’ that reflects the time when technology is still evolving and is yet to be perfected, an ‘imperfect cameraman’ today can make millions of TV viewers see actions performed in the minutest possible fraction of a second in detail, in slow motion. What can then prevent the formless perfect creator to review its ‘past’ leisurely – believably reclined on the bed formed by the celestial serpent Anant or Sheshnag (reflected even by the Gold ticket holder :-)? :-) :-) :-)
“Nero was fiddling when Rome was burning.” And editors are fiddling with rivers of words when Arctic is melting :-)
“The one who laughs last, lasts best” :-)
On account of many unknown factors, just as a physician generally treats his/ her patients symptomatically - that is to say that he/ she would normally initially prescribe medicine(s) based on apparent symptoms - Krishna also advises one to act with faith and belief in Him without any particular fruit, or a desired outcome in mind…A doctor therefore generally says, indicting it as a team work, “I treat, and He cures.”
Thus God is generally believed to be closest to one who treats a physically, or mentally, or spiritually ailing person successfully, irrespective of his qualifications, say as in case of Jesus Christ, following based mainly on one’s reported success rate... The conclusion, therefore, “Nothing succeeds likes success.”
In view of the above, it is virtually impossible for one to say how or why some character is chosen as perhaps the more beloved of the formless creator that is Mother Sati of Hindu mythology, that is, the energy that resides in the heart of Shiva, that perhaps refers to our earth…and it is considered as one of the ‘panchbhootas’, whereas Shiva is called Bhootnath, the Lord of ghosts, or the past!
Hindu mythology is generally taken on the face value by all and sundry, mostly as a pastime.
However, those who have understood these to, in fact, convey secrets of creation, as it becomes evident when one reads Bhagavad Gita, say from the statement of Krishna that the entire creation rests within Him, interpret the stories according to their own background knowledge. That unfortunately for an average man results in many versions from which one is required to choose the intended version of the creator itself, which therefore is apparently an impossible task…
In the epic of Mahabharata, Krishna the representative of Vishnu is depicted as a character that is a close friend and advisor of Pandavas. And, Arjuna is depicted as an ‘expert archer’ from whose bow emanated arrows just as sunrays from Sun, that is, Brahma! Thus these two characters in fact indicate both Vishnu and Brahma as two of the three aspects of Trimurty Shiva (Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh) Himself! And Arjuna apparently realizes the ‘truth’ of ‘Maya’ the illusion after deep meditation and happily accepts his role!
In the brief example stated above, the concept of Bhootnath Shiva being related with time and space zero and only reviewing its past in apparent time is indicated by Bhootnath Shiva also being called Mahakal the controller of Time in other stories…However, the story related with Dwaper Yuga depicts only Yudhister, the eldest of the Pandavas to reach ‘Heaven’ that is achieve ‘moksha’…
The significance of the above cannot be reached from the character that is generally reflected by Yudhister’s exterior: he is a gambler, who lost everything material belonging to the Pandavas’, even their common wife Draupadi to their cousin Duryodhan the trickster!
Perhaps, therefore one has to read between the lines to reach his mind, that is, he reportedly was always truthful, conforming to “Satyam Shivam Sunderam,” that is, Shiva alone is the truth and He alone is beautiful…and also that Bal Krishna was mischievous. And, anyway the creator is invisible and one can’t read its face and therefore always elusive! For face is believably the index of one’s mind!
Quite logical impressive and intelligible explanation !
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