Archarya Muka Kavi (Mukharbhaka), the 20th Acharya of Kanci Matt in the 4th cen A.D. quotes:
"I am desirous of constantly thinking of that form that which is pleasing to those living on the banks of the Kampa river, placing the very life of the Cakora bird (which survives on drinking the rays of the moon) on her head and the very seed of eternal bliss.
I bow to that all pervading deity who is the sound of the Vedas, the waves of the Nada, the energy of the circular bindu, the moon that which was born in the world of parapada, syllables of mantra, practice of tantra, the cause of one and all in their natural condition and the effect of all in their varied forms which fill the universe."
These are one among the many stanzas sung by an ancient poet towards Kamakshi, the mother of love. His expression in his poetry vividly describe the mother, her beauty and her assets, as it would appear in reality should we also possess such divine grace (divya dristi)
Even if I had to equate divya dristi to profound visual imagination within the mind (ref:Vishnudharmottara), there definitely is more to this method of thinking and worship. We as human do imagine, we have the capability to visually fantasize of recreate within our minds, a reality quite different from what we see around us. When this imagination is not an offspring of what nature offers us (like say a hybrid creature that you would see in star wars) but is self created and bears no resemblance to what we see in reality, we have then entered this profound and evolved region of imagination.
There is more to this power that the mind is capable of, meaning, the potential of the mind/brain is far more than we have exercised upon. Different poets and saints at different times have defined the beauty of Devi, and though all of them witnessed her divine presence through the mind's eye, or imagination as we know it, they in a very uncanny way saw the very same vision. She appeared the same to all of them, meaning, if we tried hard enough, we can commune with the divine through a mechanism that can be exercised through our minds.
To improve this we have mantra, tantra, yantra, puja, bhakti etc. which condition us to pave the way for the divine to access our control centers. We need to segregate time for our minds, into mundane existence which we ideally should not place so much importance on and shift the focus towards this control center. That is why in meditation they say, control your thoughts, meaning, reduce the noise in your head so that you can hear the divine speak.
This science is beyond everything, and it cannot be proven except by personal experience and if we are really that interested to make better sense of our existence, we would take it up as a serious approach to life with every breath that passes us by. So why are we wasting time getting further stuck in this maya of mundane life when we can clearly see the method to proceed towards divinity. Why is it so tough to focus the mind on something intangible because of lack of familiarity? Why is our own inadequacy proving to be our deadliest enemy? Why are we accepting defeat before we even got started to really understanding what is beyond? Why do we think “it’s difficult, I can’t do it”?
All we need is the deep urge to want to keep looking at the Mother, melt in one’s own humility towards the presence and beauty of the mother that lives in every speck of kumkum dust that adorns her feet. Kamakshi Amman is life breath, she is energy that wakes the life in every nadi within our system, she is the energy within the circular bindu, she is the essence of the Vedas that roll out silently from Dakshinamurthy Shiva, and she is divinity unimaginable.
Isn’t that the same feeling that Archarya Muka Kavi had when he penned down his devotion into sacred texts centuries ago?
12 comments:
Kavitha, Even a ‘present day scientist’ knows the mysterious power of Moon vis-à-vis its dot-like size on Earth’s (Shiva’s) forehead (also like a bindi on a ‘Hindu’ Mother’s forehead, Kamakshi Amma to her infants, applied ritually through time immemorial). That, combined with Sun’s relatively weaker pull on water, causes high tides in the seas on the Full Moon day/ New Moon day, which is thankfully susceptible of prediction today, and thus help caution inhabitants of coastal regions in advance (like astrologers) - particularly during monsoon season when additional water pours down on ‘earth’ from ‘sky’ (like River Ganges believably descended on earth via Shiva’s head) - thanks to heat, i.e., ‘fire’ or energy, supplied by sun that, helped by ‘air’, or in fact the air current that is set up due to interaction between all the concerned elements, the ‘panchtatva’ or ‘panchbhoota’, ‘sky’, ‘earth’, ‘fire’, ‘air’ and ‘water’, as conveyed by the ‘wise’ Hindus, the word derived from Indu that is Moon, in Sanskrit...
And, interestingly Chakor, the bird (‘red-legged’ partridge, reminding ‘me’ of Ma Kali who resides 'in Shiva’s heart') that is heard particularly on a full moon night, is adopted relatively recently as the National Bird of Pakistan (part of ‘India’ prior to the partition – the River, Sindhu, also called thus because of Indu the moon).
Whereas it is the ‘blue’ Peacock (Kartikeya, Somskandha’s vehicle) that is adopted as truncated India’s! And, since attaining political independence, ‘India that is Bharat’ decided, under the Prime Ministership of Jawahar Lal Nehru (the title derived from ‘nahar’ that is a canal for carrying water for various purposes), to go full throttle for ‘industrial revolution’ or ‘material development’, with a view to catching up with the materially advanced ‘west’…reflected also in India sending unmanned ‘Chadrayan I’ to moon recently when the ‘west’ had almost given up its fascination for moon after successfully landing man on moon thrice(?) and had been attracted to Mars instead as the planet (whose essence is believed to be housed at the 'mooladhar') that could provide shelter to humans in view of the ‘global warming’ on earth, leading to fear of submergence of the majority of the land on the globe!
Joshi uncle
The fear here is that man is beginning to feel he may just be superior to god in what ever form.
The lack of belief (on the measure of intensity) as it declines only means trouble.
Its like this fear has always been there, through centuries, they always thought with political changes in the system, that religion would take a back seat, but strangely nothing ever got to destroying it completely.
we have had invasions, we have had changes in society and now we have materialism being our biggest enemy and yet life goes on... the intensity matters... and that is somethign no one seems to understand.
Kavitha, what a ‘seeker of truth’ needs to be conscious of is that everyone is like a spectator of a drama, as well as an actor too in the very same drama!
As spectators, we tend to find faults with the various other actors, but remain unaware that maybe each one of us is perhaps acting our own role worse than them!
This was expressed as seeing even small faults in others highly magnified while seeing our much bigger faults as minor – due mainly to defect in our sense of judgment, as part of the script incorporated in the drama…St. Matthew, therefore, cautioned one with the statement, “Judge not that ye be not judged… etc.” Indicting thus the presence of someone Superior to all of us who is the ultimate Judge…
And, in ‘India-that-was-Mahabharat-the-globe’ once upon a time, seen throiugh the eyes of the ‘wise’, one finds preserved innumerable stories that helped some wise man to reach the conclusion that the Supreme Judge, Hari or Hara (that is Vishnu or Shiva), is immortal, and unfortunately for those who depend on their five senses only He is formless! And, that He alone, the Bhootnath or the Lord of the Past, is the All Knowing whose prerogative it is to Judge humans, His best creation – His Own Images!
Kali and Krishna, both meaning dark, or black the mysterious, like the believable creator whose kingdom extends within the entire void of the universe, help to describe the soul that is beyond the inefficient five senses. And, that the 'truth' - although known at some time in the past to all souls, eaqch being part of the one and only Supreme Soul - thanks to inherent property of 'Time' needs activation of the ESP by each individual in human form that heads the animal kingdom on earth...
Hi Joshi Uncle
This line is so so true, i could yell it to the world
"help to describe the soul that is beyond the inefficient five senses."
Sometimes our people need a shake up, a shake so bad that they sit up and ask a question - am i spending my time the right way and doing the right things?
Its a simple thing to get started, requires enormous amounts of dedication, but end of the day, as the years go by, its the patience and the perseverance that matters most.
I was reading about one of the Nayanmar's yesterday, a lady called Ammaiyar Pey (forgot her first name). Translates to the mother like a ghost literally.
She wrote beautiful verses on Lord Shiva, touching upon the shamshan ghat and the beauty of the lord dancing with his jatas flying in the wind.
She is depicted as emaciated almost like a skeleton, because she had prayed to Lord Shiva to take away her beauty which was distracting her worship.
I had a lovely weekend yesterday as i heard two stories of spiritual souls getting their answers from Lord Shiva and Annapurni Mata. Very fulfilling indeed.
and then i look at everyone around... so lost in the noise in their heads... so sad.
Kavitha, In the 16th century, for the benefit of the then ‘common man’, Sant Tulsidas said, to the effect, “Whatever happens depends on the will of Lord Rama.”
And, Rama was understood by all 'Hindus' as the hero of Ramleela, the drama related with our solar system that exists for over 4 billion years, with our Sun as its apparent leader…while the ancient Hindus indicated a unique force, the unborn and unending as the real hero, who is beyond even the wisest of the wise at any time - at the centre of our earth, expressed in the belief that Kali resides at the heart of Shiva!
The human brain is wonderful. Just one word, like dropping merely a stone on the surface of water in a lake - depending on the weight of the stone – creates small or big waves. Similarly, mere utterance of some word by some other character, or popping up naturally of some thought(s) on its own might unfold a series of thoughts in one’s mind!
Therefore, Krishna the black advised one, the 'seeker of truth' or 'sadhak' who is interestedd in controlling the mind, to develop a habit during 'meditation' to ignore the external world, for it is illusory, meant only to distract your attention, to keep you away from reaching the ‘truth’…
In common words, it was said, to the effect, "Do good/ And forget."
It’s known today – as it would have also been known to the ancient wise - that our planet earth is in constant animation, like human mind.
It rotates around its own tilted axis (with reference to Sun). And that it also continues to revolve in its orbit around Sun since time immemorial.
These relative motions reportedly create days and night at any location, and also different seasons, (dry or wet) summer (when it is hot) and winter (when it is cold, ie., absence of heat or 'fire'), various permutations and combinations possible thereof, at any given region on the globe…
Also, we have known that Sun appears to be the source of energy, for vision in certain animals, as well as sustenance of life on earth.
However, it is also learnt that it is the Hydrogen gas in the core of the Heavenly bodies, called stars, which is basically responsible for the energy - due to the chain reaction between Hydrogen gas atoms (called fusion, or yoga to ancients) itself that was triggered by some agency in the remote past - from the distant Sun that also makes its planetary system to revolve around it.
And, we know also that the solar system is only a small component of our disc shaped mature galaxy of innumerabe heavenly bodies that has a ‘Black hole’ at its centre, just as innumerable variety of other galaxies which fill the infinite pitch dark void of the universe, also basically have!
And, Krishna the black says all 'wrong actions' result from lack of knowledge. But, unfortunately, even though we believe we have gained lots and lots of knowledge about 'Nature' and yet we fail to know the 'SELF'!
Kavitha, before 'I' proceed on leave, 'I' would like to add that even today one can visualize why human form was considered the superior most among the animal kingdom by the ‘wise ancients’.
It is well known even today (although the present times were described by 'wise ancients' as Kaliyuga the ‘dark age’) how ‘scientists’ have realized energy only as indestructible (immortal), and have also gone into the depth of the variety of energy forms that are apparently present in ‘Nature’, such as Heat, Light, Sound, Electricity, and Magnetism…
However, existence of Supreme Soul also was realized by the ‘wise ancients’ thanks to advanced times, which (call it unfortunately) is, or rather, beyond present day man, of course, thanks to time reflecting events related virtually with the ‘remotest past’ of the Creator, when He had just started His journey from ‘0’ with a view to reaching infinity, ie., ‘perfection’, achieved eventually in the form of ‘Shiva’, opposite of ‘Visha’ (that had believably existed in the beginning of evolution), ie., ‘amrit’ - or immortality eventually granted to ‘devtas’ the demigods (members of our solar system only that work in the interest of one and all members, that is, those who are ‘selfless’ and are thus only 4.6 billion years young!)…
I've tagged you for the six random things meme!
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