Gupt Kashi, a small temple way up on the Himalayan foothills has this quaint little temple attributed to Lord Shiva Ardhanrishwara. The sculpture of the Lord and his consort is charming and the entire ambience plays into the tunes of folk music and is in line with the heavens. A dozen women roll on with the dholak and the folk songs that reverberate through the walls of this temple. The marijuana stoned sadhus at the entrance as against the household simple women singing inside, it was a strange view to see the rebellious world live in parallel with the conformist at the door step of the Lord.
What was really enchanting was a small Shiva linga not measuring more than both my palms put together, that sat right in front at the foot of Nandi who carried the divine couple on His back. What was so unique about this Linga? On the face of it, the linga was fantastically chiseled, made of stone and ravaged a little by time, yet it carried on its contours the sharp lines that pronounced every head that made up its central Lingam.
Yes, beautiful and elegantly carved out of stone and delivering a presence that either matched or overpowered the large idol of Ardhanarishwara Shiva, this linga was truly unique and divine to look at. Commonly known as a Chatura Mukha linga based on the canons of Indian art, this linga sports four heads so handsome in appearance with jatas rolling down on all sides. Seated on its square peetham, this Linga brought back the ancient verses penned down ages ago by Thirumular, one of the greatest Tamil poets known in ancient Indian history.
LINGAM'S NINE ASPECTS
Tantra 7, 1777
"Shiva linga has 9 aspects
Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara, Rudra form the lower aspect
Shiva of the 5 faces, Bindu, Nada, Shakti and Shiva"
As Thirumular explains, the Shiva linga has 9 aspects to itself. The lower aspect that makes up the Chatura mukha linga comprises of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Maheshwara represented by the four perfectly chiseled faces while the upper aspect is made up of Sadashiva [Shiva of the 5 faces], Shakti, Nada, Bindu and Shiva.
Tantra 7, 1777
"Shiva linga has 9 aspects
Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara, Rudra form the lower aspect
Shiva of the 5 faces, Bindu, Nada, Shakti and Shiva"
As Thirumular explains, the Shiva linga has 9 aspects to itself. The lower aspect that makes up the Chatura mukha linga comprises of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Maheshwara represented by the four perfectly chiseled faces while the upper aspect is made up of Sadashiva [Shiva of the 5 faces], Shakti, Nada, Bindu and Shiva.
THE FORM, FORMLESS, FORM-FORMLESS ASPECTS OF SHIVA
Tantra 7, 1811
"Shakti, Shiva, Nada, Bindu are the formless aspect
Sadashiva is the form/formless, unmoving aspect
Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheshwara are the form aspects"
The Shiva linga is structurally comprised of the 9 aspects of the Great Lord, however as the heart sinks into the very form of it, the realization that I, the human being, the matter that breaths here and now is a moving potent Shiva temple on my own. All these aspects of the Lord lie dormant within me to be awoken from this deep slumber called life.
Tantra 7, 1811
"Shakti, Shiva, Nada, Bindu are the formless aspect
Sadashiva is the form/formless, unmoving aspect
Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheshwara are the form aspects"
The Shiva linga is structurally comprised of the 9 aspects of the Great Lord, however as the heart sinks into the very form of it, the realization that I, the human being, the matter that breaths here and now is a moving potent Shiva temple on my own. All these aspects of the Lord lie dormant within me to be awoken from this deep slumber called life.
SOUL IS SHIVA LINGA
Tantra 7, 1823
For the gracious Lord
The heart is the sanctum
The fleshy body is the temple vast
The mouth is the tower gate
to them that discern
Jeeva is shiva linga
The deceptiv senses are but the light that illumines.
To the gracious Lord I pray! My heart is the inner sanctum that is so pure and so fragile that it is housed within this body that makes up this temple I call myself. The mouth is the towering Gopuram, the Gateway that leads to this sacred sanctum and that which keeps me alive is the Jeeva, the essence of life and of Shivahood. I am the light, illuminated by my own senses that keep this darkness of ignorance away when I realize the potency of my very own presence here and now.
Tantra 7, 1823
For the gracious Lord
The heart is the sanctum
The fleshy body is the temple vast
The mouth is the tower gate
to them that discern
Jeeva is shiva linga
The deceptiv senses are but the light that illumines.
To the gracious Lord I pray! My heart is the inner sanctum that is so pure and so fragile that it is housed within this body that makes up this temple I call myself. The mouth is the towering Gopuram, the Gateway that leads to this sacred sanctum and that which keeps me alive is the Jeeva, the essence of life and of Shivahood. I am the light, illuminated by my own senses that keep this darkness of ignorance away when I realize the potency of my very own presence here and now.
ADORE THE LORD AND BEHOLD HIM
Tantra 7, 1826
you can think of him
you can speak his truth
but rarely can you see his holy feet
Only they can see his holy feet
who adore him with flower and water.
I am a part of Him; He is in my mind always, here and now. He rules my soul, my heart and my mind, for my thoughts revolve around Him. I speak what i know, but I dont know enough because this truth intrigues me so. I am but a willing slave in his arms, ready to listen to every pearl of wisdom that comes rolling to me in this sea of events that form my life. But when will I be blessed to see his divine feet, to feel the pulse of his presence? I pray in this hope, every waking hour with flowers and water asking him to awaken me from the dense ignorance of which I am a helpless part.
Tantra 7, 1826
you can think of him
you can speak his truth
but rarely can you see his holy feet
Only they can see his holy feet
who adore him with flower and water.
I am a part of Him; He is in my mind always, here and now. He rules my soul, my heart and my mind, for my thoughts revolve around Him. I speak what i know, but I dont know enough because this truth intrigues me so. I am but a willing slave in his arms, ready to listen to every pearl of wisdom that comes rolling to me in this sea of events that form my life. But when will I be blessed to see his divine feet, to feel the pulse of his presence? I pray in this hope, every waking hour with flowers and water asking him to awaken me from the dense ignorance of which I am a helpless part.
CELESTIALS WORSHIP THE LORD WITH ARCHANA
Tantra7, 1827
Why is it that the lord has taken his seat
in the hearts of the celestial beings
who bare the consecrated water
and the garland of flowers
They humbly prostrate in worship offering
the lord 5 sweet dishes and 16 upachara rituals
I try so hard, and yet he shows me no mercy, am I cursed to be born such? Why is every prayer of mine, every abhishekam and every japa that I so willingly sing in his name, falling short? And yet I see him choose the Heart of the celestials to reside. Because they so beautifully pray in all humility to Him with consecrated water, garlands of beautiful perfumed flowers, and sweets that would please him. To be blessed by him in return.
Tantra7, 1827
Why is it that the lord has taken his seat
in the hearts of the celestial beings
who bare the consecrated water
and the garland of flowers
They humbly prostrate in worship offering
the lord 5 sweet dishes and 16 upachara rituals
I try so hard, and yet he shows me no mercy, am I cursed to be born such? Why is every prayer of mine, every abhishekam and every japa that I so willingly sing in his name, falling short? And yet I see him choose the Heart of the celestials to reside. Because they so beautifully pray in all humility to Him with consecrated water, garlands of beautiful perfumed flowers, and sweets that would please him. To be blessed by him in return.
NANDI PLANTED HIS FEET ON ME AND IMPARTED GRACE
Tantra 7 verse 1818
This birth I took
these impurities I bear
He dispels off this maya cloud
You are rid of these
so saying this he places his feet over my head
and I gave up all my unworthy knowledge
I prostrated at his feet and prayed
And yet I tirelessly pray, knowing well that I shall win his grace someday when he places his divine feel over my head to pale the worthless knowledge from my mind.
He will fill me with divine knowledge, sacred ambrosia of a different kind to make changes in my current life, in this form, in this time and as I see these events unravel, I bow to Him with overwhelming emotion, true everlasting bliss that lasts beyond this state, beyond this life, beyond this being.
Tantra 7 verse 1818
This birth I took
these impurities I bear
He dispels off this maya cloud
You are rid of these
so saying this he places his feet over my head
and I gave up all my unworthy knowledge
I prostrated at his feet and prayed
And yet I tirelessly pray, knowing well that I shall win his grace someday when he places his divine feel over my head to pale the worthless knowledge from my mind.
He will fill me with divine knowledge, sacred ambrosia of a different kind to make changes in my current life, in this form, in this time and as I see these events unravel, I bow to Him with overwhelming emotion, true everlasting bliss that lasts beyond this state, beyond this life, beyond this being.
31 comments:
Hi Kavitha, Thanks for presenting the thoughts of Thirumular!
'I' would like to say that since time immemorial the Shivlingam reflects the realisation by Yogis, (after in-depth studies or 'Tapasya') of the one and only creator of the infinite universe in reality as a point source of infinite energy that pervades the infinite appearing universal void,,,and the ancient 'Hindus' are known to have been advanced astronomers, or/ rather 'siddhas', and therefore 'we' can perhaps get some ideas about the 'Truth' from the 'present day scientists' also...
'Scientists', ie, 'astronomers' today apparently find the universe expanding indefinitely, such that the apparent physical forms within also continue to expand...
The problem therefore is something like a post-graduate wanting to convey - the essence of what he or she has learnt through in-depth studies - to a Class Five student!
As 'I' have understood it, Mahashiva in physical form as the essence of the infinite void was realised reflected by 'navgrahs' or nine members of our solar system...And, the wise ancient Yogis talked of activation of 'kundalini', which meant raising the energy - contained in chakras from mooladhar to sahasrar - to one single point in the head, which was conveyed through the line extracted from NANDI PLANTED HIS FEET ON ME AND IMPARTED GRACE (where the said 'bull' is Shiva's, the immortal's, vehicle), "...he places his feet over my head
and I gave up all my unworthy knowledge..."
"Hari Om tat sat"!
Kavitaji let me know more about tantra.plz
All said and done, 'Om' was realised as the 'beej mantra', or the 'original seed', of the infinite universal void that, starting from a point, continues to expand indefinitely while thankfully permitting 'us' also to review the Past of the Creator through human characters...
Maybe, one can realise how - in the recent past - Devraha Baba (in UP) was in news, for he reportedly used to sit on the branch of a tree,,,and the then 'big politicians' used to visit him to receive his blessings - that he used to do by placing his feet on their head as they stood under the tree!...
And, interestingly, one gets to read stories contained in 'Betal Pachchisi', and also "Sinhasan Battisi', that are related with the legendary fearless King Vikramaditya of Ujjain, who reportedly, eventually, controlled 'Betal' the king of ghosts who generally are believed to reside in certain species of the Banyan, which, on the other hand, is also associated with Gautam the Buddha, a Prince who, Rama-like, chose to adopt the spiritual path...And, one however continues to get to see 'Tantriks' who attempt to control some inferior soul for achieving a relatively smaller goal...
'Tantriks' had apparently acquired unbelievable powers in the past and 'black magic' was reportedly more prevalent in the Northeast, such that Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati is known as 'shaktipeeth' or centre of energy...
In this connection, the story of a washerwoman or 'Dhubri' is popular such that a city on the banks of Brahmaputra is named thus; (related with Ahom Kings who ruled over certain region in the northeast India for almost 600 years and reportedly had adopted Hinduism),,,and only Aurangzeb's Sikh Army led by Guru Teghbahadur eventually managed to defeat the washerwoman who hadn't allowed any army to cross over to Assam - single handedly!...
"Satyam Shivm Sunderam" (and "Om namah Shivaya") in fact address the energy-like immortal and formless God, for 'Sati' the original consort of in symbolic language refers to 'Shakti' or energy (and today one knows, thanks to 'Einstein', the relationship between energy and matter)...
If one were to note carefully, one would find the ancient 'Hindus' in various stories, in many ways, lead one at any time to the concept of 'asht-chakra', and 'navgrahs' (asht-chakra meaning 'eight wheels' literally, alludes to eight 'grahas', Sun to Jupiter, as essences of eight galaxies that in appearance are like discs that revolve around their respective centre and the ninth (beautiful ring-planet Saturn, while Vishnu is indicated as Sudershan-chakra-dhari or 'holder of the beautiful disc') acting as their Supervisor)...
Formless or neutral, ie, Nadbindu Vishnu is depicted in images and words as reclining along West-East direction, and temples at different locations on the similarly trending Upper to Lower Himalayan ranges that were born from earth's womb are indicated to have been constructed at different centres of energy...
And in the physical human form (considered 'male' or 'female', thanks to 'dwaitwad') the Yogis indicated similarly the eight chakras to range from 'mooladhar' to 'sahasrar' chakras from tail-bone end to head,,,and they similarly depicted Kamakhya Temple (related with unending desire for material in humans) is indicated as the location on earth (Shiva in physical form, as part of Mahashiva the solar system) of the 'mooladhar' that is the 'basic root' of the physical Shiva - indicated at the location where the genitals of Shati fell when Her dead body on the shoulder of Shiva was cut away by Vishnu...
And, on the other hand, the origin of Ardhanarishwar Shiva is indicated at Kashi, on the banks of River Ganga, the holiest of the holy rivers, at 82.5 degrees East longitude,,,and that happens to be the location for reckoning the Indian Standard Time (IST) with reference to GMT in the 'present'...And, Shiva is also called Mahakal, the controller of the time!
For realisation of the 'Absolute Truth' the Yogis advised one to lift the total energy distributed in eight chakras to one point in the head...
tantra is the oldest religion practicsed in india before sanathan dharma due to its great descripition about sex .it was banned in india by our so called pandits.but they had mistaken the meaning that tantra was not all about sex and if it was then there was nothing wrong in it . nad jc sir plz give full descripition of bhairava as it is the main deity in tantra along with jogmaya. sir plz help.om hanumatay namah
Shri Vikas ji, The word 'Sanatan Dharm' refers to a practice carried out through unending time in over 1000 cycles of four Yugas, (in the order Sat yuga, Treta yuga, Dwaper yuga, and Kali yuga each having different but defined characteristics whereby, on the whole, human efficiency gradually reduced from 100% to 0% to 100% again cycle after cycle),,,the overall total adding up in His one day to above 4 billion terrestrial years in the life of the unending creator,,,and the day is believed to be followed by a night of equal duration!...
As Kavithaji has also talked of 'ritual worship of Shiva (the unborn and unending immortal)', the 'Hindus' who believed in controlling time cycle to be related with 'asht chakras' and 'nav grahas',,,with Indu the Moon occupying the highest point in human head,,,as the leader of the team responsible for the 'Yogmaya' of the formless creator,,,which believably is responsible for the presentation of the apparent illusion or 'Maya' in Shiva's or Bhootnath's 'Third Eye', of His Own Past,,,It is also indicated as represented in human form by the believably closed one (at Ajna Chakra) that, however unfortunately for us, needs activation,,,and instead is replaced by two for the duality or multiplicity as observed in human or animal life, although believably being His Own models or images (as reflections in, say, 'magical mirrors')...
In short, as part of a grand design , it is only in human form that one can believably reach different levels of the various 'truths' through different paths available to one, which are indicated to be like say a larger number of persons starting from the equator towards the North Pole (representing the top of head) through different paths,,,but 'as luck would have it' only the luckiest person might come to occupy the Pole the earliest of all,,,whereby an individual soul is expressed as eventually getting merged with the 'supreme soul', which is considered as the only purpose of human life on earth, besides realising that the Supreme Souls' representative is ever present with each form as a witness of all actions on His behalf, for overall judgement!
The wise ancients advised one to remain unmoved by the external world under all circumstances and let the formless lead one to Him the All Knowing, personally and directly; the earlier the better!
It's well understood at any and all times that realisation of the truth by any individual is apparently based on one's 'luck', the word that translates into 'bhagyawan' in Sanskrit/ Hindi, while 'bhagwaan' stands for God or - in view of the grand variety that ever naturally exists in 'Nature' in all its aspects - the best ('puroshottam')among humans at any given cross section of time...
The human form was realised by wisest among the wise, at some given best point in time, formed with permutations and combinations of essences of nine members of our solar system ('navgrah'), where 8 numbers are believed located between mooladhar (tail-bone end) and sahasrar (in brain, which is realised even in the present as a super analogical computer, many times more efficient compared to the digital computer in Kalyuga teh Machine Age, another name by which Kaliyuga the Dark Age is also called),,,while the essence of the ninth planet, Saturn, believably acts as the link between all the eight computers, through the nervous systems' intricate network to carry information/ energy stored in different locations from one to the other (which could be understood in its behaviour through say the Railway system that carries humans, each, in fact, containing within one information based mainly on experience and inclination of mind or natural interest, say like a mobile library containing information on various subjects)...
However, the ancients gave stress on attaining all-round knowledge and be proudly called 'siddhas', which today is translated as 'expert' (although only in one subject!)...
'Yogis' or 'Siddhas' - who realised the Absolute Truth after performing tapasya or Herculean task ('Bhagirithi prayas' for 'Hindus') in isolation to develop detachment while maintaining attachment - advised everyone, like them, to attempt raising energy into one point in the head,,,although knowing very well that it's not a one say traffic as such, whereby everyone knows that control of 'Nature' is not within the purview of humans...
And thus one gets to see larger number of populace reflecting characteristics related with the region from 'mooladhar' (related with Ganesha) to 'solar plexus' or 'manipuraka' (called 'conception vessel') ,,,and only a few can apparently rise above this region, to levels varying from heart to head (that's related with Parvati) and is called 'governor vessel',,,the task apparently being made difficult by the neck (symbolically also indicated by the shape and the expression 'bottle-neck' or hindrance), which is called 'vishuddhi chakra', ie, literally 'purification point' (related with Kartikeya or Skandh or Murugan assigned the task of creating 'maya' or illusion, reachable by 'Tantriks' at any time that is naturally related with rise and fall of all existing systems),,,and through interesting stories also related it with 'defence' through the word 'rakshasha' that is derived from 'raksha', but 'rakshasha' also got related with 'Satan', in the yet to be fully evolved 'west' compared to Yogis in the 'east', in the form of the 'Adam's apple' as a reminder to humans at any time of our ancestors having not followed the prescribed 'Donts':(
However all mistakes were explained in the 'east' to occur on account of 'lack of overall knowledge of Self' that's possible only when one stops viewing 'outwards' (that generates inferiority/ false superiority complex due to comparison)...
Maybe, because the wise ancients have indicated the five basic elements in all physical forms expressed by 'panchakshari' mantra, ie, literally the 'five-lettered' mantra (sound energy 'Om' as prefix) na-mah-shi-va-ya that 'I' feel represent, in the order, Nabh (meaning sky); mahi (meaning Earth, including Ganga water indicated in Shiva being named Gangadhar); 'shikhi' (meaning fire or heat energy); 'vayu' (meaning air); 'yamuna' (representing normally polluted water in the said river, ie, associated with 'krishna' who is indicated as an image of Shiva and is believed to reside within all physical forms that form the grand variety in 'Nature', say, as gravity in each member of the galaxy/ solar system and as 'souls' in animal forms that too are at different levels of evolution reflected by the)...
With the above background, a natural water fountain (such as the Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, USA, say) could be seen as an example,,,for even otherwise man-made fountain also depicts how the 'middle-stream' of water, that issues out of the nozzle under pressure, rises to a certain height towards the 'sky'(while the ones in the extremities rise to relatively smaller heights),,,and greater the pressure greater is the height (symbolically representing the 'sky' or infinity)...
Thus, maybe, one could say that the limit of the rise of 'Tantriks'; who too use 'mantras', but in a different manner, is indicated relatively lesser by the wise ancients...
After Mantra and Tantra come the Yantras that is instruments,,,and Kaliyuga the 'Dark Age' is also called Kalyuga that is Machine Age or the inferior most Time period when, besides humans, external instruments are also needed to be utilised for attaining better or improved efficiency of machines or equipments, including human or animal forms...
Earth has thus been realised by wise to represent any and every imaginable institution, such as a big hospital/ workshop and so on where instruments (souls) gone defective elsewhere are brought for improvement/ recovery and, maybe, keep returning again and again to various departments till final recovery...
Yogis appear to have realised suitable gemstones properly diagnosed also effective in lifting the energy to some higher level(s) during the life-span,,,maybe alone or in combination with either mantra and/ or Tantra also,,,and thus if needed help improve the efficiency of any given human form , although maybe not help in full recovery...However, in Kaliyuga, it becomes difficult to reach the right instrument because of the natural characteristic property of Time, that is Kal, as with the passage of time overall knowledge believably naturally heads towards zero...Thus overall confusing state seems to prevail, as can be observed in the 'present' also...
However, a 'seeker' at any time is asked not to be discouraged by the apparent chaos at the end of a particular era (as the story of Mahabharat also depicts how even then, ie, in the apparently 'better past', the situation was as chaotic as it appears today, however, then too humans represented instruments or machines ranging from 'Krishna' to say Shikhandi, or blind King Dhritarashtra...)...
And the ancient wisest among the rarely available wise have indicated the only good characteristic of Kaliyuga is that it brings back Satyuga, the Perfect Age, although you might get to see, in some pockets, some rare characters who appear to be 'above time' surrounded by 'slaves of time' and thus might appear to perform some 'miracles' in one's eyes,,,which might however turn out to be just some trick of hand (like that of a magician, who also exists),,,explained because of apparent 'dwaitwad', or 'two sides of a coin'/ two hemispheres of earth/ one representing the 'head' and the other the 'tail'!
However, the 'seeker' accepts the coin as a whole, including the blank or neutral middle that helps impart thickness to the coin and, thus, in fact bringing it to existence in the physical world till it lasts, which might entail many exigencies, such as becoming obsolete even when apparently almost new (thanks to dame luck?!)...
hanumana too play a very imporatant role in tantra .can u explain sir.sir the question remain the same about bhairava.if i have done any mistake then i apogolise please forgive.sir i want to learn tantra so there are various types of questions arising in my mind. so sir please help. om hanumatay namah
hanumana too play a very imporatant role in tantra .can u explain sir.sir the question remain the same about bhairava.if i have done any mistake then i apogolise please forgive.sir i want to learn tantra so there are various types of questions arising in my mind. so sir please help. om hanumatay namah
Shri Vikas ji, There is no question of doing any mistake when one asks a question, for it is said by the wise that if one doesn't ask a question he would remain a fool for all the times to come, although if one asks an ordinary question he might look foolish only for that moment...
'My' basic idea was to first give the overall picture about the 'Truth' as 'I' see it through the eyes of the ancient wise (while different people might see that very phenomenon differently)...
Sometimes thus one might find the reply on one's own from the basic picture presented before all...but, particularly the written words, irrespective of their numbers, remain insufficient to convey a realisation...
Now, coming to the subject proper, one can perhaps imagine the entire universal knowledge - originally contained in a point - instead to get distributed in eight points (by some technical process)...Say, like overall information stored in 8 persons (as instruments) who occupy an eight-storey building in 8 different floors,,,such that at any time, from outside only the person in the top floor could help in judging the overall knowledge contained in that building,,,with teh condition that at any given time the control of the people in lower floors to reach the top floor is in the hand of the occupant of the lowest or ground floor only...
This lowest floor occupant, or 'mooladhar' member is indicated as Ganesha or Hanuman, represented by Mars, who believably is authorised by the omnipotent to act on its behalf,,,and the top floor occupant, or 'sahasrar' is indicated as Parvati or Sita representd by Moon!
In the evolutionary process however creation of evolved Earth-Moon as the Guru was understood as the goal ,,,in the beginning however, the pair of these two could be called Devi and Bhairava (the angry young Shiva)...
Maybe 'I' should have also added that the wise ancients understood man as 'model of the universe' or 'image of God' (in 'east' and in 'west', respectively)...And, one can perhaps also learn from the ancient Egyptians (in the west) a pyramid shape used for storage of mummified bodies of their dead Pharaohs together with those of their loyal servants,,,perhaps to energise also their respective souls with the help of the particular shape and proper orientation of the massive structure (each face in the four cardinal N-E-W-S directions)...
The very pyramid shape was, however, used in the 'east' duly modified as vimanas', the word indicative of flight of large numbers of souls, within devotees - when they are still live - to higher elevations...Thus the useful purpose of temples as instruments or Yantra even when one visited it only for ritual worship!
______________
Note - Pyramid shape also is indicative of its capacity to hold larger numbers, close to the ground in the beginning of 'churning of the kshirsagar',,,but the shape tapering down upwards indicates numbers of souls reducing gradually till finally only Shiva occupies the apex (symbolically the peak of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar representing the life-giving water that is associated with River Ganga-Jamuna-Saraswati,,,and detached Moon as its source in the space...
'I' should have perhaps also explained that reduction in number of souls, with passage of time as 'churning' progressed and getting readjusted within lesser volume is indicative of merger of some souls and getting compressed, till the Satyug or apex of the pyramid is reached (a single point or Supreme Soul' as the essence of infinite soul, thus the expression when defining man as the model of the universe, or 'image of God'; or even "Satyam Shivam Sunderam")...
The above can also be seen reflected in the transformation of a massive star into a 'Black Hole', after its 'death',,,when before that it swells due to internal or radiation pressure becoming higher than its gravity that was responsible for its existence in a particular shape or form before that exigency, and is now called a Red Giant...It now bursts such that the debris gets scattered in space within the region close to its original location...However, as soon as the radiation pressure is released, gravity becomes effective again! This leads to implosion that is compression of the scattered matter,,,the process however generates heat that helps in reducing the volume of the new Heavenly Body as matter is burned and is now called a 'Black Hole', becomes nearly all, or all, matter gets converted into pure energy or gravity! (Hindus, the advanced astronomers thus perhaps called God as 'Krishna or Kali'; as Nirakar or Formless, 'bhoot', or a spirit or ghost and Shiva also as Bhootnath the lord of ghosts!)...
So, when 'I' see the overall pyramid, 'I' believe 'I' am seeing the most evolved soul (Shiva), as in Satyuga, represented by the apex (a point at the highest level, as one generally calls a soul as 'highly elevated' and the concerned person as 'Mahatma',,,while the base with the large area of the square, or nearly the base, as the 'present' or Kaliyuga that gets reflected by the growing population with the passage of time, ie, number of images of Shiva increasing more rapidly, which in another example is also reflected by a freely falling ball or stone increasing in speed when it approaches earth (ref the 'present day's' most popular game of Cricket, say)...Similarly, one can perhaps visualise shivalingam to represent the Mount Kailash-Manasarovar Lake to represent Ardhanarishwar/ Shiva-Parvati/ Earth-Moon...while Venus, being related with Kartikeya or Skandh (the shoulder), represented by his vehicle blue Peacock, essence housed at the throat level and responsible for material and 'maya' indicates the highest level that can be reached through Tantriks, through the 'black magic'...whereas the ultimate goal is infinity or top of head/ the mysterious Moon that can be reached only with the asistance of Hanuman/ Ganesh ie Mars,,,hence balanced (material plus spiritual) development advised by the wise...
With teh above in mind one can study or follow whatever subject one is interested in is the advice of the wise ancients as 'I' understand it...
The five physical senses that are recognised by humans (as in the present, believably the Dark Age) are indicated to be deceptive (resulting from Yogmaya of the Creator or Yogeshwar Vishnu/ Shiva)...However, the Yogis were 'scientists', that is, they were keen to go deeper by asking questions from themselves (or other wiser people or more elevated souls, if available), such as why?, How? etc. about appearances...
'Today', it is through scientists, who are 'specialists', we get to learn how our brain, that has innumerable cells the majority of which remain untapped even by the 'most intelligent, works based on information received through the physical senses,,,which gets reflected in conclusion reached by any given individual concerned. To cite a commonly used example, one might 'see' what at the first glance one might think is a rope (like 'my mother' too many decades ago),,,but, if one were to touch it, one might realise that it's not a rope but it is a snake (however, on the other hand, the touch might help confirm the fact also of it really being a rope)!
Thus it is learnt that for decision making, that is knowing the 'Truth', one needs to do in-depth study oneself, or consult some superior and normally dependable source of information, otherwise one might remain a fool for all the times to come! One can perhaps thus realise why the Yogis believed in acquiring overall knowledge,,,and as it is seen in the Gita also, they reached the conclusion that the only purpose of man on earth is to seek God with forms, besides the Formless or Nirakar, the one and only super being who is responsible for the entire creation that in fact are like images in one's mind or thought as a result of Yogmaya,,,small parts of which are experienced by His Own innumerable images too during the limited and negligible life-span...Or, in fact, it is He, She, or It alone who is continuing since time immemorial to seek something! Maybe, its own possible origin or mother (as it geets reflected through 'scientists' who are interested in knowing the origin of the universe and have recently managed to collide Protons!!!
Now, maybe 'I' should once again the statement of 'Krishna' that He resides within all beings, just as the humans so believe,,,but he clarifies that all exist within Him,,,but, because of 'Maya', believe He is within them...Here, one might also like to recall what the present day scientists also have apparently come to learn about earth and 'life' upon it, i.e., our planet, or/ rather our galaxy is unique in this regard, for so far 'human life' is seen to exist nowhere else, although there might be life of different kind elsewhere, in our or other galaxies in the universe,,,and that our planet earth, because of the variety that's available on it is the most beautiful of all heavenly bodies...and just as 'Hindus' (who believed in man as model of teh univers, also believed in devtas to exist in pairs, viz. Shiv-Parvati, Laxmi-Vishnu, and so on, the scientists believe in stars also to exist in pair, although the partner of our Sun isn't found yet!
Now, in so far as humans is concerned, there are characters seen to exist at any given point in time who, as exceptions to the law, remain unmarried,,,while normally pairs are said to be made in heaven (among 'common men' who perform prayers ritually or otherwise for health wealth and happiness to be granted to them and their off springs)! While historians, on the other hand, tell us about large harems of Kings...However, the mysterious Krishna, King of Dwaraka, is said to have had 16,000 wives!
today i want to tell somethig which ihave experienced in my life when iwas 21 around 3years ago iwas severly attacked by jaundice .there was no result though ihave done every things from ojas jad fook to hospitalisation. then some one have told me that some some maili vidya had been done on me. in our rajasthan we have mehendipur balaji (bal hanumana)temple near jaipur.until that time i was purely a nastik.my mom took me there.and at the time of arti some thing i dont know what exatly was that,my body started shivreing than i dont know what happned.my mom told me that some one had came in my body started crying,and he was telling let me go,then he had told that which person had done tntra vidya on me and he was gone.from that day till today i have not experienced that thing again,and my jauindice was gone frm that day onwards .sir can u explain what is this all thing about.is there any other plain or any other thing above human plaine on this same earth . om hanumaty namah.
Shri Vikas ji, 'I' would also in reply cite an experience narrated to me by 'my' maternal uncle...
He suffers from gout from an early age and practises as an advocate in our home town in the hills. As it almost happens with all humans, he had undergone treatment through various systems of medicine, but to no avail...Then somebody advised him to see a Muslim contractor in the PWD, at his home in the foothill town...He took leave for a week and, as he had been having a severe pain, he took his elder son with him by bus in the evening and went straight to his place, where he was standing in the drawing room...
When he had just started telling about his gout, the gent struck the wooden floor three times with his boot! And, then asked him how the pain was? Which, to his astonishment, had completely disappeared!!! He was then asked to walk a mile and report, which my uncle did happily, painlessly!!!
But, the pain returned the third day again! He reported it and was then asked to just look at a circle in black drawn on a white sheet by the gentleman, around whose periphery some words in Urdu were written...Uncle felt that when he looked at the figure, pain disappeared,,,to reappear when he looked the other way!
He was then told that the 'spirit' that had possessed him was much more stronger than him and, therefore, for the remaining days that he was in the town he could use the amulet given to him by his Guru and see if that helps. For those three days there was no pain,,,which however reappeared when he handed the amulet over back to the gentleman before departure...
I had met my uncle almost ten years ago when he told me that he thought that if a 'spirit' was responsible for his pain, then maybe it is responsible for his material welfare also, ie, his house, good practice, family, and so on,,,and thus he decided to surrender in fate,,,and, thankfully, despite the pain he had been able to attend the court ('I' heard that he has undergone operations for replacement of the knees in the meantime)...
Thus, although the subject seems to have been gone into in depth and understood in the past, today its background isn't known,,,although some 'tantriks' appear to have cure in certain cases...
In our home, my mother used to take a pinch of mustard seeds and threw those in some water pool at home, in the kitchen, after waving her arm over our heads when at times we appeared disturbed particularly after returning home after play in the evenings!!! It, and many other such practices in India show how certain knowledge about certain household cures for the problems related with the unseen were apparently disseminated to the common man also, by Yogis...
If we were to look for the answer to the question: Who is Hanuman? We would find that the popular stories indicate him as the powerful son of 'Pavan' or 'Vayu', that is, 'air' - the most important element for life on earth - and Anjaneya or Anjani, that is, 'Black', like 'Krishna', or/ rather 'Ma kali', the more popular symbolic form of destructive energy,,,which is associated with Shiva the Bhootnath as she believably lives in His heart,,,and also through 'Sati' (short form of 'shakti' or energy that one very well knows is indestructible, or immortal)...
Thus he is the Yoga of eternal energy and one of the most vital element of the physical universe...
In the olden days, temples in India were normally constructed at locations where some 'miracles' were reported,,,and these locations were called 'shaktipeeth' or centres of energy. But, in the present, because it believably is Kaliyuga the Dark Age, temples are also constructed for exploitation of people. In view of this, some people still prefer to visit places/ temples that have certain good reputation carried forth from the distant past based on experience of many,,,that is, like the character of humans, temples and cities also have a certain character and reputation passed on through ages...However, due to the effect of time, it would perhaps be foolish to expect perfection in any field today, that is to say the human efficiency would indicate the Yuga to which a person perhaps belonged in the past, for even today one might find people who are dedicated to their profession despite apparent chaos...
In the Gita, souls are indicated to get engaged in eternal cycles, which might lead to either higher or lower elevations, among animals or humans even...
Hanuman in human form apparently takes birth in the Treta Yuga, or the third stage of churning of the kshirsagar (or say evolution of our 'Millky Way galaxy') by both selfless and selfish souls within characters in human forms, that had continued from Kaliyuga and Dwaper yuga before that,,,the phenomenon at any era gets reflected in appearance of materially rich and poor persons,,,thus indicating relatively superior or elevated nature of the souls within selfless characters, such as Hanuman who are devotedly engaged in the service of other selfless rulers/ persons, as reflected by Rama (and also Sita as well as Lakshaman, and three ('3') happens to symbolically represent 'Om' the formless in physical form) who had obeyed the words of his parents,,,and so on...Thus indicating the importance of respect to elders (elevated souls) given during that era...and in Kaliyuga, one is aware how confusion rules because one is getting to see the inferior past,,,but the hope is kept alive by repetition of stories related with Satyuga, or even Treyayuga or Dwaperyuga,,,and if the belief is strong one gets to see even 'miracles' happening, but in some isolated small pockets only...
Generally, today, one would observe that 'we' take everything, except self, for granted, viz. this beautiful earth and other heavenly bodies etc. and the grand variety of 'life forms' that are housed upon earth, while 'we' gather knowledge about everything around us and are interested to know if there is more intelligent life elsewhere! On the other hand, the 'wise ancients' apparently found that 'most intelligent life' to reside within each one of 'us' and also within all physical forms, but to a smaller scale or potency,,,but here too exists hierarchy as it exists in 'Nature' in all its aspects....
They, however, also reached the Truth of 'Maya' that is illusion,,,say, as a hint even reflected by the story related to Dhritrashtra the 'naturally blind' Kuru king in 'India' in Dwaperyuga and, on top of it, supported by his artificially blinded wife Gandhari, a 'foreigner' from 'west', indicated by her closing them with a piece of cloth!,,,and as a hint drew one's attention to the eight-legged animal, called spider, that spins a beautiful web,,,for the sole purpose of catching moths due to lack of knowledge on account of their man-like inefficient organs of physical senses...And, they called the soul responsible for 'Maya' as Ma Parvati/ Durga, the eight-handed or 'ashtbhuja dhari' and indicated it related with Moon or 'Chandra' that is associated with Shiva who has 'Chandrashekhar' as one of the many names by which He is called! And, eventually one might reach beautiful Earth from His another name being 'Gangadhar' - ie, the one one who holds River Ganga - as the Shiva of Hindu mythological stories (and also the tiger the vehicle of Durga!),,,and our solar system as Mahashiva, whose throat is indicated as the poisonous planet Venus (Shukra to 'Hindus'), for shiva is also called 'Neelkanth'...and, one anyway knows how blue colour ('neela') is associated with poison in human life,,,and interestingly the wise ancients related blue colour with 'Krishna' the representative of 'sudershanchakra dhari Vishnu' as 'Neelambar' and associated with direction 'west',,,also Satyuga's Shiva's elder son Kartikeya is also associated with blue, relating him with (blue) Peacock as his vehicle! And, interestingly it has been selected as our National Bird in the 'present', while as an independent nation we decided to flow in the channel created by the 'west' of 'industrial revolution'! And why not? For the present is also called Kalyuga or Machine Age,,,but with the difference that unlike our wise ancients 'we' (thanks to force of time that is Dark Age) don't apparently realise ourselves also as instruments or multi-purpose machines! The interesting part is that innumerable persons in 'India' do read The Gita regularly...
Once someone accepts the universe as a wonderful design, and not to have appeared as a result of some accident, a 'seeker', like Arjuna apparently did (as one of the innumerable characters in The Gita,,,and the story acts like a catalytic agent to one), then only one can perhaps be taken into the depth by 'Krishna' the soul within and see the 'Truth' of ritual worship of say four handed Yogeshwar Vishnu (as Arjuna apparently believed Him to be), or Natraja Shiva the Yogeshwar who, like a tight-rope walker (as the word 'natraja' the king of 'nats' indicates) is indicated to ever remain alive, or 'amrit' that is immortal by managing to walk between 'life' and 'death' as it is apparent to 'us' humans on this earth, believably on account of illusion or 'maya', or 'dwaitwad',,,which can be seen by a seeker to get reflected in 'our' getting lost when watching films on a silver screen inside a darkened hall, as the 'present truth' and undergo the same emotions that 'we' feel when 'we' apparently watch apparent happenings in 'real life' ...And, thus the 'seeker' can realise why, in The Gita, it is generally advised not to get influenced by the 'external world', (which apparently, as per design, is meant to distract one's attention away from the 'Truth') and seek the 'Truth within' instead...
It is said that the wise can come to realise the 'truth' even from small/ insignificant appearing hints,,,and thus, maybe, one can see from overflowing garbage/ trash bins in 'Indian' cities, as it is often reported in the print or electronic media, how one could perhaps see how they badly need to be emptied continuously,,,and similarly 'meditation' is supposed not to allow any thought to enter the 'seeker's head', like an empty trash bin, for God is formless and universe is an infinite and eternal void that's filled with garbage-like physical forms that are temporary, coming into existence like a 'flash in the pan' :)
Maybe now one can see how due to lack of knowledge about the purpose of temples and also about human life on earth, man is reduced to the dust even when one is apparently 'alive',,,and one gets to read in the Gita also that all faults arise from lack of knowledge,,,and that there is a limited purpose of reaching the God within :-)
Kavitha, Maybe 'I' should once again cite the hypothetical example of one getting to see one's own exclusive album of photos depicting one from birth to the 'present',,,and, obviously without any hesitation, saying "it's me" to each and every photograph, say from that of an infant to an old man, in the album...And, maybe one can add the ultrasound image of one's mother's womb also in that album in the very beginning,,,and also photograph of dust in the end???!!!
'I' read a neurosurgeon once write to the effect that for a doctor, when he prepares to perform a brain operation, any and every human body is just like an instrument that has developed some defect and, therefore, needs correction,,,and the thought about the various emotions that get reflected in that given individual due to that particular brain does not concern him...
Sorry for the 'romain fleuve'!
With the given background thought, that man is realized by the ancient wise a model of the (unending and ever expanding) universe, or ‘image of (immortal) God’ (‘Shiva, to Hindus’), to answer the question: How all innumerable and different appearing physical forms at the same time could be His Own images? One does not need to be told how, with the passage of time, one is experiencing in the ‘present’ rapid progress made in the IT, ie, Information Technology, with the help of a variety of material tools…
And, as a hint thereof, consider the examples of the ‘magical mirrors’, (‘I’ saw first time in a fete in my childhood), where one gets to see one’s own images that are not the same and also not the ones we always get to see in ‘plain mirrors’, which however might appear to appreciably change only over long time,,, just as thanks to advancement in technology one gets to see ‘action replays’ of events that apparently happen instantaneously, over a negligible fraction of a second and which could help imagine the phenomenon related with the recent attempt to reach the ‘God particle’,,, just as the first microbe was first seen in a microscope as a ‘path breaking phenomenon’ in the ‘past’ that led to the subsequent invention of electronic microscopes’…
And, ancient ‘Hindus’ talked of ‘soul’ as the ‘truth’ that’s ever remained elusive since ages because the ‘west’ was related with the common source of communication, throat (Venus),,, and the ‘east’, although related with the head (Moon), in the ‘present’ is only copying from the ‘west’, for ‘we’ are getting to see events related with Kaliyuga the Dark Age,,, And a Swiss lady, a follower of Gandhi ‘I’ coincidentally (?) met at Calcutta Airport in ’79, told ‘me’ that ‘we’ still were slaves of the ‘west’, for ‘we’ adopt whatever ‘west’ rejects, (for those are found unable to lead them to the desired goal), although through the test of time ‘we’ had already achieved in the ‘past’ locally available materials that were suitable for use by persons in different regions of our country…:)
Beautiful description of Lalitha Sahasranamam and its significance.
Thank you
Prema Sathyanarayan
Thanks for the information Mr John! There are so many interesting stories available in the Hindu mythology that in fact might have some 'scientific' background, but an average man today apparently has no time, even if they a scientific background knowledge, to pause and realise the hidden truth... That's what perhaps 'maya' implies...
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