It was a very interesting conversation the commenced at lunch as Srinivas and Santhanam sat down to catch up on the day's updates. Apart from the worldly updates for the day, the topic slowly headed towards Pakshi Shastra and the pros and cons of keeping animals as pets. It started off as a mundane topic and took strange twists and turns to make any mind start to think.
In this amazing exchange of ideas a single thought percolated in both the minds. What kind of animals are best as pets. While both agreed that cats made good pets though they are not necessarily the most loved animals to most people in today's world, the idea of dogs for pets took a controversial turn. Santhanam had been meditating for long on this topic, watching closely at reality for clues to substantiate his theory and he was now quite assured that he was right. His assumptions had slowly begun to turn in to belief and as he poured out his findings he left Srinivas almost converting his belief to a fact.
This truly turns to be a very controversial topic to all dog lovers, but here were a few points though irrational to the logical head, might make an Indian mind rethink as we belong to the ancient system that believes such and we [Indians] would largely not dispute anything extraordinary though we would like to keep away from it as well.
Santhanam rolled out his thoughts:
Dogs :), though one of the most endearing creatures that make their emotions felt in minutes are not the best recommendations for animals to be bread within a home. Unlike cats that sense impending danger and can alert the inmates of a home, dogs on the other end do not give any such prior notice. Now, this changes our definition of keeping pets. Pets are not just a nice to have at home, or lovable and entertaining, they definitely have a job to do :), apparently!
This is ancient belief, that when there is a possible danger, or impending disaster to any of the inmates, cats behave strangely to indicate a possible mishap. Cats make a number of circles in front of the main door and do not wish to allow anyone who is a part of their pack to leave the home because they sense approaching trouble. They come with a superior sensibility and try to protect the family of which they feel they are a part even though they may not be as emotive and might appear rather selfish at first glance.
Dogs on the other hand behave differently. There have been many stories and myths that dogs can see spirits and ghosts of the night... well possibly they do and we don't see this behavioral change. Well where do we have the time for such small nuances in life that bring that additional punch! Dogs tend to howl or cry in the middle of the night, nearing the peak of midnight, the hour when all bhootas [ghosts] and pishachas [spirits] are alive and ruling the space. It is also the hour when bhaktas of the darker side awaken. This is their hour of awakening, this is their auspicious hour of living and worship. Dogs just don't sense ghosts and spirits, they attract them too. This is probably why they didn't make it to the most recommended pet list of our ancients.
This phenomenon may have also been the meaning of the stark representation of our Gods. While Goddess Durga has a tiger for a vahana, representing the emotions of life, agility, movement, energy and power, the aghora form of Shiva [Bhikshatana, Bhairava, Rudra and Kala Bhairava] always has a dog for a vahana, appear terrific and fierce [though dogs on the face of it do not appear to have any such quality]. Interestingly Kali Ma in her terrific form doesn't have a vahana, but in her sobered version has a tiger just like Durga. Could these representations mean more than just mythical vehicles?
Srinivas and Santhanam thought conclusively, cats definitely made more useful pets if we were in tune with their behavior. Dogs may make good pets if we would like to discount the idea that they possibly attract ghosts where ever they are at certain times of the night.
We can choose to ignore or accept the presence of spirits and ghosts or we can take up an unbiased attitude towards them. But this forces me to go back to a reference that makes bhootas and pisachas look reasonably unfriendly:
Hanuman Chalisa: Bhoota pisacha nikat nahi ave, mahavir jab naam sunave.
Santhanam and Srinivas sat back thinking. While in the current world animals are endearing and entertaining to us as pets, in the ancient world the thought of keeping pets meant something entirely different. Something that went in the direction of protection from all impending trouble, keeping ghosts and spirits away from one's home and maintaining a clean and trouble free environment to ensure better evolution towards a possible spiritual growth.
What a thought!
Disclaimer: This article is entirely based on analysis of traditional hand me downs spread by word of mouth and has not been validated by any reference from the Pakshi Shastra.
In this amazing exchange of ideas a single thought percolated in both the minds. What kind of animals are best as pets. While both agreed that cats made good pets though they are not necessarily the most loved animals to most people in today's world, the idea of dogs for pets took a controversial turn. Santhanam had been meditating for long on this topic, watching closely at reality for clues to substantiate his theory and he was now quite assured that he was right. His assumptions had slowly begun to turn in to belief and as he poured out his findings he left Srinivas almost converting his belief to a fact.
This truly turns to be a very controversial topic to all dog lovers, but here were a few points though irrational to the logical head, might make an Indian mind rethink as we belong to the ancient system that believes such and we [Indians] would largely not dispute anything extraordinary though we would like to keep away from it as well.
Santhanam rolled out his thoughts:
Dogs :), though one of the most endearing creatures that make their emotions felt in minutes are not the best recommendations for animals to be bread within a home. Unlike cats that sense impending danger and can alert the inmates of a home, dogs on the other end do not give any such prior notice. Now, this changes our definition of keeping pets. Pets are not just a nice to have at home, or lovable and entertaining, they definitely have a job to do :), apparently!
This is ancient belief, that when there is a possible danger, or impending disaster to any of the inmates, cats behave strangely to indicate a possible mishap. Cats make a number of circles in front of the main door and do not wish to allow anyone who is a part of their pack to leave the home because they sense approaching trouble. They come with a superior sensibility and try to protect the family of which they feel they are a part even though they may not be as emotive and might appear rather selfish at first glance.
Dogs on the other hand behave differently. There have been many stories and myths that dogs can see spirits and ghosts of the night... well possibly they do and we don't see this behavioral change. Well where do we have the time for such small nuances in life that bring that additional punch! Dogs tend to howl or cry in the middle of the night, nearing the peak of midnight, the hour when all bhootas [ghosts] and pishachas [spirits] are alive and ruling the space. It is also the hour when bhaktas of the darker side awaken. This is their hour of awakening, this is their auspicious hour of living and worship. Dogs just don't sense ghosts and spirits, they attract them too. This is probably why they didn't make it to the most recommended pet list of our ancients.
This phenomenon may have also been the meaning of the stark representation of our Gods. While Goddess Durga has a tiger for a vahana, representing the emotions of life, agility, movement, energy and power, the aghora form of Shiva [Bhikshatana, Bhairava, Rudra and Kala Bhairava] always has a dog for a vahana, appear terrific and fierce [though dogs on the face of it do not appear to have any such quality]. Interestingly Kali Ma in her terrific form doesn't have a vahana, but in her sobered version has a tiger just like Durga. Could these representations mean more than just mythical vehicles?
Srinivas and Santhanam thought conclusively, cats definitely made more useful pets if we were in tune with their behavior. Dogs may make good pets if we would like to discount the idea that they possibly attract ghosts where ever they are at certain times of the night.
We can choose to ignore or accept the presence of spirits and ghosts or we can take up an unbiased attitude towards them. But this forces me to go back to a reference that makes bhootas and pisachas look reasonably unfriendly:
Hanuman Chalisa: Bhoota pisacha nikat nahi ave, mahavir jab naam sunave.
Santhanam and Srinivas sat back thinking. While in the current world animals are endearing and entertaining to us as pets, in the ancient world the thought of keeping pets meant something entirely different. Something that went in the direction of protection from all impending trouble, keeping ghosts and spirits away from one's home and maintaining a clean and trouble free environment to ensure better evolution towards a possible spiritual growth.
What a thought!
Disclaimer: This article is entirely based on analysis of traditional hand me downs spread by word of mouth and has not been validated by any reference from the Pakshi Shastra.
24 comments:
When we were young, my father had a spaniel dog, named Kim...He was too gentle and would bark only on shabbily dressed people - postman, and beggars avoided it...It allowed my younger brother to ride on its back! Our friends used to say that it would not do its assigned task if a well-dressed thief entered our house!
Once it was unwell and my father had asked our cousin to take it to the veterinary doctor when he returned from college...I was alone in the house that particular morning and was preparing for some examination while it was chained to my chair and was apparently resting or sleeping.
However, at a certain point in time it started to pull hard on the chair and, while seated, I unchained it. It ran to the back coutyard, where it generally eased itself near the flower beds...and I forgot about it...
When the cousin returned, he asked for it so that he could take it to the doctor - but he soon returned from the backyard saying that it was dead!
I too then accompanied him and was surprised to find it lying prone, like offering 'shastang pranam' to a deity: front paws stretched towards the 'Harshringar' tree, whose white (or 'Gouri') flowers that have an orange coloured stem (the colour traditiionally related with Ganesha / Hanuman), can be picked up from the ground for offering to Shiva's idol in prayer (particulary on Shivratri or Mahashivratri, one lakh, or one hundred thousand flowers of which - because of availabillity - my mother used to offer on those occasions, in which we children also helped her many times)...
When she, and other siblings, returned home before lunch, it is obvious that all wept and no food was cooked that day...and my father said we wouldn't keep a pet henceforth...but circumstances obliged us to have not only another dog but a cat too (because of big rats, Ganesha's vehicles, in the house that had remained unoccupied for long :), the bigger house reallotted to my father later!
Maybe, thus dog (or evolved wolf), cat (or evolved tiger), and mouse (evolved rat) as vehicles respectively of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha play important 'spiritual' roles, while the beautiful peacock as the vehicle of Kartikeya (that is, Murugan) play important role in the 'material' life!
Hi Kavitha, that was an unusual title for this blog ! :-). I've also heard that dogs see beings of another plane/dimension , they are also more attuned to the voice of nature. During the Tsunami, dogs were noticed moving away from the coast much before the waves struck. Just this morning I was reading how a pet dog had tried to stop his mistress from going to her office on the fateful day that a fire broke out in that building and the lady died in the accident.
Cats, according to Egyptian mythology, are Spirits ( both malevolent and benevolent)embodied. Dead cats were also mummified like priests and kings.
Yes Yosee, you are right! Although black cats were used by practitioners of 'black magic' in the west, in ancient 'India that is Bharat' (the ancient land of child Bharat who believably played with tigers bare handed, and traditionally Ma Durga is depicted riding a tiger, as Her vehicle) Hindus too made it punishable to kill a cat, for then one was required to make a cat in gold, of the same weight as that of the original animal! However, later, one would offer only symbolically a light weight cat made of gold plate...
However, in short, each animal form, including man, is believed to comprise of a permanent, imperishable spiritual being covered in the exterior with a temporary, perishable, material form...
Interesting topic. I think Indians love dogs as pets more than cats. Till I got married, we used to have dogs continuously as pets. Dogs do have a 6th sense. I remember the day I was leaving the house for my studies in the US, the Labrador we were having climbed into the back seat of the car and wouldn't leave. I had to physically carry him and put him outside. I remember classification of customers into dogs and cats. It is said while the dogs are attached to their masters the cats are attached to the house. I don't know how far this is true but one can find similar traits in customers.
I don't think dogs attract spirits. If so what do these spirits do actually? You don't find the dogs dead the next morning nor the inmates of the house dead? Probably the dogs see these spirits and howl. In Sri Rudram, Rudra himself is called as a "dog" and "master of dogs". And then Yama took a form of the dog and followed Yudhistra, isn't it? Apart from mythology, dogs are lovely animals. I don't know much about cats.
Our hunting/gathering ancestors must have tamed originally dogs as tracker dogs in their chase after game animals. This tradition will go back for hundred thousands of years. Even the Aboriginals brought their hounds with them when the colonized Australia 50,000 to 40,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. The wild wolfhounds (canis lupus dingo) of this continent are descendents of bewildered hunting hounds of these Indigenous Australians.
The cats became domesticated during the Neolithic Revolution, when our ancestors discovered agriculture, 11,000 to 8,000 years ago. The large reserves of cereal grains the first farmers had in stock after their harvest attracted large amounts mice and rats and the presence of these prey-animals of the cats, has brought the cat from the wilderness to our homes.
After human has been settled in this agricultural way, home became the domain of the mothers/women, as the outside world, the wilderness, stayed the domain of the still hunting fathers/men. So cats became a symbol of the domestic life, and dogs of the wild life. Although one discovered in this era the use of dogs as sheepdogs as well, still cats and dogs could figure as symbols of inside life and outside life.
It is a great observation to see these two animal-symbols back in Shiva, especially in more wilder or bewildered forms (Rudra; Bhairava; Bhikshatana) and then accompanied with his dog(s) as and archetype of our All-Father God and Durga with her cat(s) (tiger; lion) as and archetype of our All-Mother Goddess. The cooperation with dogs and cats human in life by domestication can be called with right a divine blessing.
And mouse and rat? Still a plague for farmers indeed -, but nevertheless Ganeshas animals/vahanas. Well, let’s realize that Ganesha is the scholar/scientist amongst the Gods, and look how useful mice and rats are in research after new medicines and in the experimental studies of behaviour, since the start of the scientific revolution a few centuries ago.
An interesting article, Kavitha! Whether it is dogs ,cats or humans, we are all embodied spirits.Every animal, like humans ,has a distinct personality of its own.There was a dog in my home which was almost human in the way it behaved. If scolded by my uncle it would hide his slippers and only brought them back when he showed affection to it.When my baby was born, it would come running whenever he cried.Another dog we had just barked all the time and was quite aggressive. So I find it difficult to generalise animal behavior the same way I find it difficult to generalise human behavior.
I always thought bhootas(ghosts)and pishachas(spirits)are different names for the same thing.Are they different from each other? If yes, then in what way ?
what about birds? reptiles?
I donno much about pets except for the fact that I had 3 kittens as pets.
Let me share my experiences. Cats are easier pets to have. Because of their relatively small size and easy to feed nature, most people prefer cats.
But when it comes to long term pets, dogs are the best. First of all, they sense danger.
Trust me I know it. One of my past neighbors had a dog as his pet. Before the day he died, his dog kept crying all night along and none could make it keep quiet.
To quote another instance, when my dad's uncle died, his dog was frowning all day and refused to eat anything. So, from these two instances, I can easily say that Dogs sense dangers well in advance.
In the 'present' we have Ornithologists, or simply 'bird watchers', who naturally get attracted to know birds in greater details.
In 'India' parrots and mynahs are the two species that have since long been found more interesting/ useful to humans as they can be trained to repeat certain sentences, eg, my father used to tell about a pet parrot - that belonged to an old woman who sold curd - that she used to put in a cage in the front room while she was engaged in her daily chores in the inner room...The parrot was taught to say only, "Jamuna dahi dede, (ie, Jamuna give curd)" as soon as someone entered the front room! Also, I too had the oportunity to see some mynahs at Jagdalpur in Chattisgarh State bein trained to repeat certain sentences in human language...
In the recent past, Mr Salim Ali came to lime-light thanks to Jatinga Valley birds, in 'northeast India' famous for practitioners of 'Shakti' cult.
It was said that under certain typical atmospheric conditions, if someone lighted a 'mashal', ie, a torch, (as observed later) young hungry birds would drop on earth like rain drops! And, the bird-eating tribals considered the phenomenon as a gift from God at the time when food was scarce, till the govenment put a stop, and Ornithologists attempted to make in-depth study of the phenomenon...
However, in so far as ancient Yogis are concerned, they realised all animals as 'images of (the formless) God' or 'models of universe' (the infinite void)...and the numerous popular 'Tota-Mynah' stories indicate that after in-depth studies certain Yogis, or 'elevated souls', could understand language of birds and reptiles (as the evolved models of crocodile, ie, 'magarmachha' believably the first physical form, or avatar, of Vishnu the Nadbindu, (a point source of infinite sound energy, manifested as 'Om' the 'beej-mantra' as the primordial formless source of energy whose component is believably present within all temporary physical forms too), the Formless God!
The All Knowing Shiva the Bhootnath (having moon as well as the original source of Ganga on His forehead that together help Him keep cool) to ever remain in 'sadahna', that is, 'control of the mind', which is generally unstable, or uncontrollable - also like examples in the external world of 'wild animals', horse, or wolf, etc - in humans the otherwise most evolved animal! Or, Vishnu the controller of the infinite universe, who remains ever reclining on the bed in a super conscious state or 'Yoganidra' made out of the 'Celestial Serpent', Sheshnag, in the middle of the Milky-Ocean, or perhaps our 'Milky-Way Galaxy', that spins around its centre like a beautiful wheel, indicted as His powerful weapon called 'sudershan chakra', and a model of which is also observed in the most beautiful among the ring-planets, i.e., Saturn ('Shani' to Hindus, as 'surya putra', ie, the son of Sun!
'Hindus' thus considered the 'grahas', that is, solar system members individually and also collectively as 'life forms'!!!
That's how the 'Truth' has been indicated since time immemorial in the Hindu mythological stories - obviously in code words, for one to decode and wonder what He seeks from His stories, or History (of His Past about His rise from zero to infinity)!!!
In the animal world, human form has been realised as the superior most 'instrument' or 'multi-purpose machine' since time immemorial and has thus evoked interest in an average human being at any time...Acupuncturists have apparently realised man as an electrochemical system...
Human brain, however, is understood to contain billions of brain cells. Unfortunately, out of these only a negligible fraction is believably being tapped even by the 'most intelligent man' today :(
And, an average man today, with his apparently even much lesser brain capacity, thus is curious to know how 'inferior animals', such as birds' and insects' - from their known observed behaviour in different pockets since time immemorial - could be used, in selfish interest, to know about any particular individual human being's future,,,for connectivity among all physical forms in 'Nature' stands realised since long, as indicated in The Gita also...
For example, parrots in cages by the roadsides are sometime seen used for long to pick a particular one out of innumerable ones placed in a row of envelops, to read out the answer contained within it to some particular question for the benefit of some particular person mainly because of the 'fear of the unknown' or mysterious life on earth...
One would thus find there exist many methods even in the 'present', such as Palmistry, Astrology, Tarot Cards and so on adopted in the 'past' to get to know the 'future' :)
The 'wise Hindus', however, have indicated the only purpose of man is to realise the formless God as well as gods with forms - within one life span allotted to one,,, which due to lack of Belief or Faith is believed to be generally not accepted by 'present day wise', or suspicious ones, mainly on account of existence of various other means of distraction during the temporary human life on earth :)
Coming to the specific subject of 'cats' as pets, it is well known that it is believed as a bad omen if a cat crosses one's path,,,and in our childhood we had seen how one would stop in one's track and wait for someone else - who wasn't aware of the fact, or didn't believe in the 'superstition' - to cross it first!
However, in my personal case, in the early eighties in the northeast region traveling on highways through forest, I came across many snakes, (generally called 'vishdhar' or holders of poison) crossing the road,,,twice at least, when they forced me to seriously recall the belief: Whether it applied to snakes too?!
Lord Shiva, also called 'Neelkanth' because of the poison He believably holds in His throat, and whose 'images' we all believably are, is depicted - in images - wearing like a garland a King Cobra across His neck and He too is called 'Vishdhar',,,while the yogis indicated human throat/ neck as the location where essence of 'poisonous planet' Venus (Shukra) is located and Shukracharya is believed as the Guru of demons or 'rakshashas',,,and - as per Christian Belief - 'Adam's apple' in the throat is indicated to symbolically represent the cause of human suffering since 'Satan', in the form of a serpent, through Eve, obliged Adam to eat the 'forbidden fruit'!
In the first case, near Jagi Road, Assam, short of Gauhati, my vehicle overturned due to slight drizzle making the fine dust slippery, and together with it, coincidentally (?) an iron nail puncturing one of the rear wheels (and metal iron is related with ring-planet Saturn),,,and a few kilometers back, I recalled that a black snake had crossed the road in front of the vehicle!
In the second incident, I was returning to Imphal, Manipur, from Mizoram-Manipur border leaving early in the morning,,,and had got delayed, first due to delayed lunch served at the guest house, and secondly due to refilled petrol in the vehicle there contained water. And thus need to stop longer at a shop where the driver separated water from the petrol while we had tea...Although we had planned to reach home before sunset, we were still in the hilly region about 3 hours short from home...it was thus already dark,,,when after crossing a hilly stream over a Bailey Bridge, we approached a turn, in the headlight I believed I saw a hooded white snake and his unexpectedly funny movements: it was moving backwards towards the valley-side! The local Manipuri driver said he hadn't noticed it, and maybe it was some rat! And, as soon as the vehicle turned left, the only headlight available had failed (one bulb had already earlier fused the previous night)! The driver immediately switched on the fog lamp,,,still I asked him to stop, because I wanted to touch the ground on my own and not be obliged to do so with the vehicle turning turtle as it had done in the last case! Only then we went ahead, replaced the headlight bulbs at a shop and travelled on the plains for three more hours without hindrance,,,to asap find out from a knowledgeable local Meiti staff member what colour their Ganesha-like deity Pakhangba, the ruler of earth, brother of Kartikeya-like Sanamahi and younger son of Sidabamapu, the immortal God, adopted when He manifested Himself in animal form! The answer was white serpent (like Sheshnag!), of course, but with black diamond checks (which it wouldn't have anyway been possible for me to see in the dark)!
Maybe, regarding dogs', or cats', capability to see ghosts or spirits, there are innumerable stories available even regarding certain human beings seeing ghosts while the majority might pooh pooh the idea...
And, on the other hand, we are aware of certain characters naturally having ESP, ie, extra sensory power, that could make one ponder over the mystery that exists in 'Nature', which an average man normally wouldn't have occasion to even think about the possible existence of someone who is Formless!!! Who could be responsible for the 'creation' in its personal interest,,,and not ours, as we generally tend to believe when we blindly exploit all available 'natural resources' and then find ourselves in soup because of it, as in recent times due to appearance of holes in the Ozone layer, or 'global warming' that could wipe out life on earth (???)!!!...And, interestingly, the ancient 'Hindus' believed a holy spirit, or soul, to be present within all physical forms!!!
Sorry! The 'P' in the 'ESP' is generally expanded as 'Perception',,,and the Yogis apparently tried to improve this capacity through 'Tratak', i.e., staring at a candle's flame under proper supervision of a Guru; closing the eyes and attempting to concentrate the resultant perception of light of the flame at the 'Ajna chakra' location (between the eye brows), in order to gradually, over some period, activate the normally dormant 'third eye' to help initiate activation of the 'chakra' - and thus help in internal vision...
As I had narrated elsewhere earlier also, a person trained by 'sadhus' in the Himalayas, and met me in Guwahati in the early eighties, was able to predict a fortnight in advance my father's impending heart attack at our home-town when he had met me for the first time,,,which was confirmed when I received a telegram from my elder brother, who had reached there from New Delhi!!!...
Talking of 'inferior' animals, fables, such as 'Panchtantra' by Pandit Vishnu Sharma written for educating foolish sons of a king, indicate how even human system of administration had been realised interconnected with that of the 'wild' animals in the forest, with the physically powerful lion considered as their king,,,and the 'astrologers' further connected these - by naming one of the 'rashis', or astrological signs, as Leo i.e., 'Sinha' in 'India' - with the members of the Solar System indicated in the horoscope or birth-chart of any individual that in reality shows since ages the position of the selected solar system members in the sky at the time of one's birth ...
Let's recall the members of the dog family: dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals and foxes that are collectively described as canids...They are known for great endurance and for opportunistic and adaptable behaviour...
In the fables, generally, the fox is depicted as shrewd while jackal, that lives in packs, is generally depicted as wild and also relatively more familiar to humans as they feed on refuse dumped near human habitation also,,,and their presence is generally known in the night from the their howling in pack, heard from a distance, whereas, similar bark of dogs is heard from close quarters...Thus one finds jackals referred in the cited fable as being closer to the animal king, lion, a relative of the cat...
There is a story about a jackal who happened to enter a town and accidentally fell into a tank full of blue colour. When, in the morning, he managed to return to the forest, from his blue coat, all the jackals thought it was some divine person and chose him as their king! But, with the nightfall, his secret was out when he too joined the pack in the howl!...And, there is an adage based on Indian experience, "Ghar ka jogi jogna / Aan gaon ka siddha", ie, to the effect, that a 'foreigner' is preferred (as an all knowing person) to the existing locally available wise man...:)
I had earlier elsewhere also said how the relationship between man and dog is similar, or a reflection of, the relationship between ('all knowing' or the 'one who knows and knows that He knows', formless, omnipotent and omnipresent) God and (ignorant and imperfect, generalised as a fool in a 'quotable quote as, "one who knows not and knows not that he knows not") Man, i.e., that of 'Master & servant'...
As it is well known, 'Nature' reflects hierarchy in all its aspects,,,but one also knows that everything is serving some useful purpose at some time/ place, or other...Nothing is useless and, therefore, should not be rejected off hand as the preferred one...
And thus one might find the 'wise' ancient to have already done in-depth study and attempted to state the essence, such as the couplet from Abdul Rahim Khankhana, to the effect, "Do not overlook the small in comparison to the big / for the sword is of no use when a needle is required (for sewing a tear in your garment, while both sword and needle might be made from the same metal, say, iron or steel which, by the way, was realised related with planet Saturn, the son of Sun in the words of ancient 'Hindus')"...
After in-depth studies, 'Hindus' reached the conclusion that all physical forms are made up of five basic elements or 'panchtatva'; also referred as 'panchbhootas', literally five ghosts or the element that exist since time immemorial...These five components were stated as 'sky' or space, 'earth' (all different elements that go into its formation), 'fire' or energy, 'air', and 'water' (related with River Yamuna, that is relatively more polluted compared to Ganga that's related originally only with Shiva (and Moon) the immortal one...And, sound energy, was related with the formless Nadbindu the 'creator', (represented by two letters 'om', as the cause of the apparent entire physical apparent universe - thanks to 'dwaitwad', or 'Yog Maya')...
The physical form in the animal world was stated by the wise to represent Vishnu & His mayavi consort Lakshami, that is, unseen energy and the apparent material form, viz the globe and its gravity in Heavenly Bodies...and, although crude, the most evolved form, ie, the human form, was believed to have resulted from evolution of energy component, called soul, as an outcome of an unending cycle of 8.4 million forms !
And, as in the human life, looking at the basic reflection of human nature, there is always some purpose behind any big or small human creation and, therefore, the wise attempted to reach the purpose behind the creation of the infinite or unending universe - and apparently failed! They, therefore, left it as an unsolved mystery and just called the unique creator as unborn and unending!
However, man has always felt existence of connection between all physical forms, like links in a chain,,,and also between the visible - but mortal - exterior and the invisible immortal interior, as it is believed hinted through the 'Musk Deer' who looks for the source of the sweet smell and doesn't know that it is housed in its own navel(that is indicated by Yogis as "Swadhistan (where God Himself, or say pure heat is housed) Bandh" or "Chakra", ie, 'lock' or 'wheel', thus hinting members of our solar system as well as centre of our galaxy to hold tightly within each some quantum of energy and information too (Krishna says He illuminates bi\oth the suan and the moon) - reflected as in crocodile jaws that can lock even an elephant's leg between its jaws as it is passed on in the words of the ancient 'wise' in the Gaja & Graha story! And crocodile is indicated as the first avatar of Vishnu, while Krishna is the eighth, while '8' written horizontally represents as a symbol adopted by mathematicians since ages to represent infinity!)...Hari anant / Hari katha ananta...said the 'wise', ie, 'there exist as many view-points as there are mouths'...'and "All roads lead to Rome!"...
As I said earlier elsewhere also, Vishnu's different avatar reflect the process of evolution of animal world, from Crocodile or 'magarmachh' (best among the aquatic animals or 'machh', ie, 'fish') on land, to the hard-backed Tortoise, (as the amphibious animal) that supports the world on it as the second one, while the third is 'Varaha', ie, the Pig that believably did a similar function: of saving the earth from extinction at the end of 'pralaya' or submergence of earth that happens cyclically...
'Narasimha', half man and half lion is indicated as the fourth evolved one, which indicates the transition from wild animals to civilised humans,,,and the fifth one, the Vamana', or the first fully formed, but still a dwarf man who was physically powerful and used for weapon his two feet only,,,while Parashuram used the axe, followed by bows and arrows used by Ram, and finally 'sudershan chakra' by the eighth one, or Krishna - similar to the ninth one in physical form the four-handed Vishnu, to symbolically represent the relatively most powerful one, ie, zero or 'Nadbindu' the formless!!!
As it is well known in the 'present' also through 'astronomers' or 'astrophysicists', planets Jupiter and Saturn etc. are classified as Ring-planets,,,and that the rings of planet Saturn are comparatively more beautiful or 'sudershan' compared to Jupiter's! While in the Hindu mythology, 'churning of the milky-ocean' was believably commenced under the supervision of Sage Brihaspati, ie, Jupiter, using 'Mandar Hill' as the churner,,,and it's well known that the referred hill exists (maybe coincidentally) in the 'Dark Continent' Africa even today and the continent is believed as the 'root of the Homo sapiens', whereas Hindus indicated the human evolution similar to the Banyan tree, known related to spread of Buddhism from India but the root virtually become extinct,,,and the original root of evolution is believed by 'Hindus' to have existed at Shiva's original abode, Kashi the present day Varanasi!
Talking of Homo sapiens and their believable roots in Africa, let's see what the mythological stories say about Shiva's youth after birth at Kashi on the banks of Holiest of the holy rivers, Ganga...One would find His mention related with River Narmada and the Vindhyachal range, in the South of Ganga, and Yamuna that is related with Krishna...and 'water is life', is well known for existence of all animals...and human body is 70% water while, like water, energy flows from high potential to low potential (as realised - from 'sahasrar' to 'mooladhar chakra' in humans and hence need for activation to make reach energy first reach the 'sky' just as the sun makes water reach the sky as clouds)...
Unlike Ganga-Yamuna flowing eastwards and drain into the Bay of Bengal together with Brahmaputra (as Padma the Lotus, the flower that is depicted as Brahma's seat), Narmada flows from east to west and drains into the Arabian sea in Gujarat,,,having its origin at Amarkantak, it is stated to have come into existence from the 'sweat of Shiva (indicated as Earth itself), that can be understood as from the underground source, or 'Patalganga' as opposed to 'akashganga' the band of stars in our 'Milky Way Galaxy' that appear milk-like white...
This the ancient Hindus believed God as three-in-one - as conveyed through 'Treyambakeshwar' (Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh). and Naadbindu also represented by numeral '3' the symbol used for 'OM',,, It is thus interesting to note that Indian Standard Time (IST) is being treated five and a half hours ahead of GMT considered as the datum or 0 degree (E & W), and this corresponds to 82.5 degrees east Longitude, which passes through Amarkantak, Varanasi as well as Mt. Kailash, all three that are related with Shiva in the stories!
From the stories, it is clear that the 'wise ancient Hindus' realised the unending time as result of illusion, or 'Yogmaya' in the words of yogis, who addressed creator Vishnu / Shiva, both related with zero time, as Yogeshwar, and Krishna the Yogiraj, sone of Devki-Vasudev brought up by foster parents Yashoda-Nand and, therefore, addressed as 'Natkhat Nandlal', ie, the mischievous and the mysterious one, as responsible for the illusion, for He apparently says that although the whole creation rests within Him, because of illusion, everyone sees Him within them too...:)
Thus a seeker (with the 'present day' background that the solar system is apparently in existence for over 4 billion years) could eventually realise the significance of the believable repetition of sets of four yugas in the order: Satyuga, Tretayuga, Dwaperyuga, Kaliyuga (Brahma's four faces?) over 1000 times,,,1080 times is suggested through observation of use of 108 'rudraksha' beads in the rosary,,, while 'navgraha' or nine members of the solar system believably reflected in human palm and use of thumb and index finger in 'siddhasan' (zero, as also the ninth member Saturn, made with thumb and index finger) could lead the seeker to associate the thumb with 'mooladhar' or essence of planet Mars (Ganesha the numero uno),,,and index finger with Mother Parvati the better half of Shiva the earth, ie Moon the Guru or Superior (also 'Krishna' the 8th avatar of Vishnu, in 'Peetamber', or yellow garments, the colour used to represent evolved Saraswati the Goddess of Knowledge and also as the one clad in white sari with Veena in hand and seated on white Swan, and highly elevated souls referred as Paramhansa)...
And thus one believably gets to see in the 'third eye' projected events related to one day in the unending life of Brahma, through human life as the head of the animal world, or representation through small scale models, that human behaviour gets worse with the apparent passage of time,,,,and the 'wise Hindus' in the 'glorious past' (say Vedic Era that believably ended in the 6th century BC) have already stated that the human efficiency during the four yugas, respectively, ranges between 100-75%, 75-50%, 50-25%, and 25-0%!
In view of the above, one could realise how one gets to see in reality the story of zero time, expanded over apparent unending time like action replays...through a good/ bad dreams-like phenomenon that one anyway realises (when one is apparent awake) is untrue or 'mithya' or illusory :),,,serving some useful purpose to the unique Creator (Bhootnath the Lord of the Past / Mahakal the controller of Time Shiva :)
Maybe one could try sometimes to enter the head of the wise ancients who conveyed Garud, or the Eagle, as the vehicle of Lord Vishnu and Nandi the Bull as that of Lord Shiva and wonder whether there is any relation between these beliefs and appearance of North America (in the North hemisphere) in the form of an Eagle, and Australia (in the southern hemisphere) in the form of the head of a bull!
And, why some people are called asses, leeches, 'koopmandook' or 'frogs in the well', and so on, virtually their behaviour covering almost all animals' on earth, 'as vain as a peacock' the adopted 'National Bird' (related with blue 'sky') of 'India' that is Bharat and it being considered as the vehicle of Kartikeya the first son of Shiva the Neelkanth or the 'blue throated' God, and the younger elephant headed Lambodar Ganesha has mouse as his slow moving vehicle that lives underground or in 'Patal'...:) And Shiva the Destroyer is called Tripurari, the Master of the animals in 'sky', 'land' (earth as 'Mrityulok' where death of life forms is inevitable) and underground, all the three lokas...
Ancient Hindus thus apparently were as mysterious as the elusive God Himself, and only highly elevated souls apparently exclaimed, "Shivoham! Tat twam asi", that is, "I am Shiva! And so you are too!"...The realisation was thus stated unanimously that 'man is a model of the universe' (in the east) and 'God created man in His own image' (in the west)...
Wow! Joshi Uncle
You sure gave me a lot to read about :) I am going late on this week's post.. I will post shortly :)
Hi Kavitha! I had earlier also conveyed that these are my loud thoughts, resulting from continued manas manthan or churning of mind as Krishna the one who believably resides within all physical forms also says that He doesn't rest even for a second: to reach the 'Absolute Truth' the supreme form of 'Krishna' (in this life at least, if I have failed in the same class in my last life),,,of course, in this life, I have apparently passed all examinations, for which question papers were set up by the prescribed system, although maybe not with flying colours!
Belated best wishes for the Women's Day to all ladies!
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