It is another busy day, as bustling crowds offer flowers and coconut, seeking the Lords blessings to bring less trouble and more happiness into their mundane lives… is this all that the Lord is meant to be here for?I can’t help but think that the initial thought of the Lord being a lot more than just a wish fulfilling tree came from the background of my education back at school. I was taught; Love the Lord for what he is and not for what he is capable of giving you. I applied it into my life and it has worked wonders. I was also reminded of the dohas of Kabir that I was taught in school.
Kabir’s doha goes has follows:
Dukh Mein Simran Sab Kare, Sukh Mein Kare Na Koye
Jo Sukh Mein Simran Kare, Tau Dukh Kahe Ko Hoye
There is such simple truth in these words and that experience is so beautiful.
Back at the Ahilyabai Ghat, Varanasi, the bustling crowd stepped in one after another to catch a glimpse of the divinity within. This extreme emotion of momentary spiritual bliss had but a hurdle to cross. What stood in front was a priest who had not had the best day so far, and had all the plans to destroy any sense of spiritual high that came close to God.
How sad was his state as he observed it to be a mundane job, for being a priest entitles him to the highest communion with the Lord and such disconnection from the Lord as well as his duty only brings sorrow to the masses that come to share this high emotion of spiritualism.
The lost look, the sheer disgust towards his apathy and the crashing of one’s high emotions can only be a disheartening experience to all those who step into this little chamber. Noise, rush, corruption, apathy and complete disillusionment towards the world of the divine only draws people into a miserable experience within the sanctum of the Lord Himself. What they end up perceiving then is just a stone idol graciously decked up and presented for world viewing.
What they miss is quite something else.
Within this chamber is present another world altogether, so beautiful that one needs a pure heart that is devoid of a wish list, to see that the Lord there is not just seated on his throne, he is there in graceful dance protecting us from all evil.
A closer look brings one’s attention to His divine dialog with Kali, who emerges from the darkness into the light that covers his glowing body. As the parasol hangs over him and the bell resounds in the mind of the bhakta, one witnesses this chemistry between two of the most potent forms of divinity.
This is the world of Bhairava and Kali, this is the world of Urdhva Nataraja and Kali. This is the beauty of the terrific chemistry between two energy driven forms that dance in perfect union with each other, in bharatanatya so graceful within this chamber, as they compete with each other on the excellence of this art.
It is another world that lives within this chamber, one of music, one of grace, one of chemistry and divine transcendental love. How then can the Lord be reduced to a wish fulfilling tree?
As the sun glows on the surface of the Urdhva linga and reflects in the expressive eyes of Kali, who is ever ready to break out her niche and burst forth into dance… why then are we affected by the moods of the priests?
Sweet people; do not let the illusions of life deceive you, the Lord lives among us, he is within us and we need to realize he is right there to be awoken. Once he takes his seat within the conscious throne of our mind, the world within the sanctum appears like a lamp lit stage where the Lord dances casting shadows gracefully along the walls as we dive into this ocean of love and music as he dances in union with Kali.
This sanctum is a fusion of two worlds, one that we physically live in and try to cope with and the other is what we create within our minds, where we would want to live all the time, that is where Lord Shiva and Kali descend and perform the blissful dance of creation.
Related topics:
When the priest becomes a lady
Potency of Lord Shiva – Part 2
Varanasi – Along the Ganges
A magical dance with Chidambaram Nataraja
Expression in Abhinaya, the art of Bharata.
Photo courtesy: Special thanks to Laurent (designldg on Flickr.com) for allowing me to use her photograph in my blog.
