Discovering the Panchagni Ritual

As I dive deeper into the scriptures I have come to realize that almost every subtle logic of existence has a gross counterpart in karmic terms. The basic premise of Hindu texts emphasises on the fact that we are a part of nature and it is our responsibility to understand this silent truth and work with nature, not against it. 

Lets assume we are completely in sync with that statement, which is actually far from the truth, lets take it up for better understanding of a deeper subtle concept in the journey of discovering the self. "I am", and "my nature" is what I am wired to being. But does that mean the end of things?… no not quite, the whole idea of Sadhana, Tapasya, Vrat and Puja gear us towards a far more difficult lifestyle, with a zeal for endurance. The ideas here is, "I am, BUT I am NOT the center of things". I am but a figment of that great energy that has the inherent power to give me this birth and take it away from me as well, at will. While I am here, I am preparing myself with due discipline and austerity enhancing my capacity mentally, emotionally and physically to face that ultimate reality, better equipped than I otherwise would have been. 

But what is the real puja, the real sadhana. The version we know is still karmic in nature, we “do” puja, we “do” sadhana. Should we not do it, it alters our lifestyle and we possibly blame the world around us for it. The gross level of sadhana, is to ensure this particular lifestyle is set into our daily schedule, in the form of discipline. It brings with it many benefits at different levels, not necessarily material in nature. The focus remains of the purpose of the sadhana, the deeper meaning of the sadhana. We can start with a physical discipline, but at some point it needs to transcend into a mental discipline of deeper purpose to get to the true meaning of it. We need to stop “doing” and start “being”. Karma again is short lived, dhyana tends to stick on for longer. If we contemplate on the purpose of the ritual, the deeper and more subtle aspects of the faith start to shine. 

In my search to understand this concept of ritual performance in the mind, we may potentially call it Manasa puja, I have come to realize that the mind has to progress spiritually, hence a karmic ritual without the mind in contemplation alongside is a potential waste of time. At some point, the mind evolves so much that the karmic ritual may not be required at all. The puja is now Manasik, it has entered a different plane, it has been absorbed into out system so deep that its a natural output in the mind, we don’t have to take trouble on it… it becomes a part of us. Bhakti plays an integral part here. It stitches in contemplation with emotional love which is a potent mixture within us. The good news is we are capable of having brilliant spiritual experiences, the hard luck is, we need to make it persist. 

I chanced upon a very difficult ritual called the Panchagni Sadhana while I was hunting for deeper significance around the concept of fire. It has captured my imagination and it was hard to let go. The upanishads gave me a subtle view into its potent world but as I searched, it strangely landed me at the doorstep of the Nagas at Kumbh Mela. It intrigued me and I discovered, they perform the Panchagni ritual in a gross form, with fire surrounding them and the sun playing the central theme. The Sadhak sits at the center with bowls of fire burning in four directions around him, the fifth fire is that sun that burns down on him during the day or made even more difficult by placing a kapala-dhuni over his head. These are difficult forms of Tapasya, and they do make a person endure the heat of the afternoon in summer and the chill of the night in winter. There are various combinations of the fire but the bottom line is a deeper association with the divine flame. 

The subtle concept describes a world where the worship of fire actually triggers the conquest of the senses, the 5 elements, where fire plays a supreme role. The worship of fire as a being in itself, is a far more powerful form of worship. It opens the gates to unknown concepts that exists around us, we are just blind men walking through all these magical possibilities, practically unaware of them. This human body is capable of a lot more than we have chose to make it work on. We have powerful tools, and all we need is some decent direction with persistence to boot, to get to a place far more enlightening from where we currently are. And this journey cannot be done the karmic way. The outer display may look like we are “doing” something, but the inner journey is far more subtle and way more potent. The idea is to move from the gross form of ritual to a subtle form of living a breathing reality. 

There will be change, big change… the question is, are we ready to take that ride for if we do, there is really no turning back. 

Photo courtesy: Patrika.com

A Journey with Jagannath, Relived

The thrill on my son's face, the enjoyment of a new world... Nothing could beat this smile that brought back past memories.

While we spend most of our lives robotically leading it, there are some things that don't die.... They stay dormant in the crevices of the mind only to surprise us when a connect with the past is made.

Jagannathpur Ranchi, Jagannath Mandir

The innocence of childhood, the enjoyment of climbing the rocky steps to the temple, the peace  and tranquility at the main shrine... The connect with the divine, the mesmerising look of deep devotion in the face of Garuda, the vahan of Jagannath who looks up to him in adoration... All of this added up to my visit to this small temple on a hillock. The silent wilderness of Ranchi has given way to a noisy order and yet, the depth of a past enbedded in my head appeared to beat this very noise.

I had heard of a place called Puri, where the main shrine of Jagannath was, and in my many trips to Jagannathpur, I never knew when I would make it there. This trip to visit lord Jagannath again, was to introduce him to my son who till now, has seen him as a small idol in our puja Ghar. I had traveled 30+ years in time in discovering this journey in my head, my son would do the same journey in 2 days... And the excitement in my mind was immense. While, a part of me said this wouldn't stick in his mind for too long, my mind was determined to have it fed into his memory at this point. He needs to see the real Jagannath at Puri, at Ranchi, at home and hopefully some day, within his mind's eye.

The temple of Jagannathpur has been renovated a few times. What stands today is an architectural piece in Nagara style of Orissa architecture, but what sits in my mind is a silent, walled interior, away from the world, cutting away the winds, an echoing interior... A place I have been to in past lives, a place that has made several appearances in my dreams, a place I am visiting again... And it's mesmerising connect with me in my real world, dream state, in a spiritual plane, in a timeless plane across lives...

Jagannath Mandir, Puri

The temple of Puri Jagannath brings haunting familiarity, a flavour of having lived here and experienced it before, though in reality it appears fresh and new.. but the vibe, I have felt this vibe before. I remember carving pieces of chalk when I was kid. I carved temples, with a scalpel and black board chalk, and arranged them in an order that looked nice. Three shrines placed together two shorter shikaras and one taller in the center. For what ever reason, I made this arrangement and I liked it as a kid (though it didn't follow any rules of architecture). But what really got me was the recollection of the same arrangement of shrines when I stood in front of three Shiva Linga small shrines, exactly the same way within the premises of Jagannath Puri, under the shade of a silent tree, that has seen time roll by for centuries. Shrines (walls, shikara, with embedded garbha griha deep down within) stand next to each other, be it Lingaraj, Mukteshwar or Jagannath, but they don't stick to each other as in the case of this peculiar set within the walled world of Puri. What I didn't comprehend was how I made the temples look like Jagannath in pieces of chalk and arrange them in peculiar order, given I had no idea of this science at that age and neither had I visited any place that early. 

My extremely strange inclination to architectural rules, logic of sacred sciences and immense love for the Lord has led me down, not just memory lane of this life... It has been connecting a lot more dots in my head that I didn't know even existed. This journey has made me question the presence of time, it's nature, it's influence and it's mesmerising presence to baffle my mind. If I just had to remove all the gaps, across lives, I would know just how many times I have been at this place, and that may not even have been dependent on real geography... It may have been something else altogether.

Jagannath has been in my life from when I started to think and remember things. He has never left my side, though I have left his several times. This journey across time, has made me revisit elements of existence I took for granted, the tremendous potential of my mind to detect differences from established route, the impermanence of time and it's presence as a stage of events in sequential order, and of course the order of the universe that banks on my "nature" to be what I am...

And while I live now, while I am here I look at my son, the smile on his face when he says "Jagannath is very very big" makes me want to relive that innocence and sacred bewilderment that I have been blessed with, for what ever good deed in the past.