Omkara Mantra Nilayam Mandhara Kusumapriyam |
Prutharaga priyadharam Jyothir mayam sivam Namami ||
An island was once cut out by the sacred Narmada as she flows furiously by the Vindya mountain. Omkareshwar is located in the little town of Mandhata, a little town still brimming with life among the lush green Vindhya hills along the Narmada. A sacred island, which carries the ancient charm of the north, as well as mythological legacy of Rishi Agasthya, Omkareshwar holds to the world one of the Jyotir Lingas out of 12. Interestingly this Linga was split into two, one placed at Omkareshwar and the other part was placed at Amaleshwar.
Omkareshwar gives the feel of the untouched north, untouched by the parasitic evolutions sold by the west. Here once can sit back and relax, having Lassi or a limca, and look at various colors of Sindur lined up for sales at shops near Dhabas. And then the curiosity moves on to the bridge that takes us back into the silence where only the sound of Om can be heard, on this island that is shaped the same way. A modern bridge that appears more like a blotch in this beautiful scenery connects ancient ghats from one side to the other, with even more ancient building towering around giving us a feeling that this still belongs to the ancient world, remnants of a city once built by the king of the Ikshvakus, King Mandhata who is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva here.
Temple, ancient and sacred dot these beautiful ghats, a picture very similar giving the feeling of Varanasi and the Ganges. Rectangular boats ferry pilgrims across the river which shows all around, steep rising fort walls with ancient palaces and ghats with stairs leading up to the higher parts of this almost magical town, promising a darshan of the Lord in Jyotir Linga form.
As one rises up these steps, revealing a archaic world, where life goes on as usual, where old generations are replaced by new, where life may appear to “improve” but leaves behind the quaint little town hosting a grand temple to the Lord, and everyone gets to worship Him, bathing Him in abhishekam, on their own, something unheard of in the south of the Vindhyas. Mandhata is charming, with jarokhas and modern buildings intermingled so seamlessly that people and Gods in red occupy the street temples together, and worship still goes on as usual.
But what had Agasthya got to do with all this? It is believed that Narada once descended down into Bhu Loka and visited Mount Vindhya and sang praises of Mount Meru, saying all the devas live there. This was Narada’s way of attempting to reduce Mount Vindhya’s pride about his land. On the contrary Mount Vindhya prayed to Lord Shiva and performed penance vigorous enough for the Lord to appear in Jyotir Linga form as Omkareshwar and grant him a boon. Mount Vindhya, in comparison to Mount Meru wished that he would grow taller. And the wish was granted on a condition that he should not hinder the faith or worship of other Shiva devotees. Mount Vindhya grew, so much so that he blocked the Sun from rising as well as the moon. It was then that Rishi Agasthya descended to earth on the request of all in heaven and came upon the Vindhya range. He said he was headed south of the Vindhyas and that the mountains shouldn’t grow until he returned. Sure enough Mount Vindhya agreed and with that his growth was stopped. Sage Agasthya never returned to the North.
Omkareshwar also holds other treasures; Shankaracharya’s Guru is believed to have spent some time here in a cave. This island is also called Shivpuri. This also hosts to the Panchamuga Ganesha and Annapurani whose worship is considered equally auspicious. There is a lot to believe about Omkareshwar and Amaleshwar, apart from the others who hold equal respect in these soils.
Video courtesy: VALPARD FILMS on Youtube
33 comments:
Although it also has been covered earlier by me, I would reiterate as follows.
The Hindu Mythology believably reflects the story of creation of the infinite universe - in no time with sound energy - by the Formless being who is ‘Amar’ that is immortal, and came to be called Omkareshwar because of the believable sound ‘Om’, as ‘Brahmanad’ used for creation, te sound that believably pervades the entire physical universe at any given time.
As we have already seen, the origin of the sacred Narmada River is located in the summit of Amarkantaka hills near the same longitude due South of Varanasi, the believable original abode of Shiva. The island could perhaps therefore be visualized as a natural replica of Jambudweep cut out by waters of the fast flowing Narmada, or/ rather by the ‘panchabhootas’ at a certain point of time, which perhaps reflected the characteristic property of Dwaperyuga, an era of possible maximum achievable efficiency as 50% of the potential believable at the end of Satyuga by Shiva, the Supreme form of Krishna, who believably studied at the Sandipani Ashram, or hermitage, located on the banks of River Shipra at Ujjain. The river Shipra, also like Narmada, originating from the Vindhyas. And Krishna eventually on maturity with his mighty army ruled from Dwarka and acted as Arjuna’s charioteer in the ‘battle of Mahabharata’, reflecting the relationship between the centre of our galaxy and the Sun, for his Supreme Form, Shiva, or the Trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha to rule over the entire globe by theend of Satyuga!
We have earlier also seen how there is a cryptic communication in the mythological story related with emergence of the younger Himalayan range - from under the seabed in the north of Jambudweep that was India - consequent upon the tectonic movements on different plates, the Indian sub continent thus continuing to push against the Euro-Asian continent. That would obviously have pushed the seawater in the North at relatively higher altitudes towards South India, even over the older Vindhyas, to finally merge with the sea already existing there, which in the story is depicted as Sage Agastya! Of course, it can’t be denied that one might find human characters, at all times, who have relatively much higher drinking/ eating capacities.
“Travelling is education,” is a well known saying. In the Hindu mythological stories also sage Narada is depicted as a regular traveler to different places, and therefore perhaps a better educated person than one who is settled at one place. He could also therefore be visualized representing the present day media-persons who keep the average man informed of happenings in other parts of the world too.
It is therefore likely that the legend about Narada informing Vindhya about the higher Mount Meru conveys that people residing in the Narmada valley in the past, almost 3000 years ago, would have learnt about the existence of the higher Mountain in the African continent, which perhaps was known at a certain point of time with that name, for as we have seen it earlier also the present day ‘Mount Kenya’ too is learnt to have Meru Town, apparently believably for the first time discovered by the ‘west’ in the recent past, on one of its slope at a lower altitude than its peak! The Yogis since time immemorial call the spinal column as ‘Merudanda’!
The knowledge about the flexible spinal column, Merudanda, in the human back that helps carry the central nervous system cables from the lower back to the head - for information after due analysis of available data on various aspects - while conveying human form as a multi-purpose equipment as part of a grand design, also indicates how it was known also to the earlier man in this part of the world, the advanced all rounder ‘Hindu Siddhas’ or Yogis, that the present day Homo sapiens all over the world had their roots in the African continent. However, the whole world today has come to know it once again through ‘scientists’ in the ‘west’, called Anthropologists – but as if it is being known to the entire world for the first time!
The ancient Hindus therefore called Krishna as ‘mischievous also, that is ‘Natkhat Nandlal’ the son of King Nanda and his wife Yashoda (although born of lesser known Mother Devki and father Vasudeva)!
The problem at any time perhaps is that there is apparently too much to know and too little time available for it during one life span, which is merely around 100 plus or minus years upon a planet earth, (besides other members of the Solar system too as learnt in the Christian Era once again in the very recent past), that exists apparently for over 4.5 billion years today and is likely to continue for billions more.
The ‘Hindus’ therefore advised reaching at the essence or the ‘Truth’, that is, which apparently didn’t change with time. Thus although earth is changing in its outward appearance, as an individual human also changes only in exterior appearance with time as long one lasts, it was realized as the ‘Truth’ because of its near permanence.
However, in the ‘present’ the average man gets carried away - thanks to a grand design - by external appearances alone and judges one based on those alone, because of ‘Time’, or ‘Mahakal’ as understood by the apparently ‘wiser’ ancients who, because of illusion, are believed as foolish or ‘blind’ by the ‘modern’ man. And thus the average man tends to enjoy mythological stories as pure fiction while getting carried away by the present day fiction as the reality!
Believably the oldest and one of the most sacred Indian rivers, west flowing Narmada is located in the Vindhyachal hills with its origin at Amarkantaka Hill, and Omkareshwar Temple on an island formed by the river, while the east flowing Ganga River ghats of Varanasi (that was Kashi once upon a time) are located in the plains.
Both are related with Shiva and have developed in a similar basic pattern - as Kavitha has also noted.
There could be many such other examples cited, related with other day-to-day life activities also, which would demonstrate that apparently man tends to copy. Thus if the ‘east’ appears to be copying the ‘present day west’, it could be visualized as the basic pattern of the functioning of ‘Nature’ – perhaps as per a grand design that was understood in the past but not possible in the present due to apparent non availability of time and other apparent priorities to reflect the 'Time'.
Hi kaviyha,Joshi Uncle,
The name is Amaleshwar & not Amareshwar.I visited Jageshwar temple complex & liked it very much.The museum guide there gave me an interesting piece of information.According to him all the scluptures of Sun God are shown with Footware!Obviusly the sun never stops walking!!
Continuing with my loud thoughts, the well known saying in the present, “Rome was not built in a day,” also reflects the Hindu thought of development in stages over four Yugas starting with chaos at the beginning, during ‘Kaliyuga’, when Shiva had to hold ‘halahal’ or ‘kalkoot’ the deadly poison in His throat when ‘churning by devtas and rakshashas of the milky ocean’ was started under the supervision of Jupiter.
Streamlining of the process believably started at the beginning of Dwaperyuga with ‘Krishna’ or the centre of our galaxy taking the overall charge - represented by planet Jupiter - and his friends, the Pandavas, Arjuna representing the Sun, Yudhister representing the earth, Bhima representing Mars, and so on.
The mythological stories then go on to indicate through more advanced characters representing those very characters during Tretayuga, for example, Krishna now came to be known as Bharat, Sun as Rama, Earth as Lakshamana, Mars as Hanuman, and so on.
The stories then indicate that by the end of the Satyuga, the entire power apparently got transferred to Shiva (Green or ‘Hara’), assisted by His family members, son Kartikeya (blue), wife Parvati (Yellow), son Ganesha (orange) as His three eyes - Ganesha representing His ‘third eye’, as the character that is assigned the task of analysis, i.e., 'writing down only when he had understood the central idea contained in what was dictated to him'!
The splitting of the ‘jyotirlinga’ into Omkareshwar and Amareshwar thus, similarly, could be visualized representing the two different legs in human form as the model of the Formless Shiva who is generally represented by 'shivlinga'.
Joshi Uncle,Heard the name "Golu Dev" very much in Uttaralhand.Also visited hie temple at Ghodakhal.Would like to know more about this God.The local folklore says that he is the God of "Justice"
Hi Anilji, the legend has it that the Kumaon region once had a justice loving king and, therefore, he was very popular among the masses during the period he was their ruler. It is believed that after his death, his spirit, riding a white horse - a belief associated with ‘Kalikavatar’ - was seen by many people. He therefore came to be accepted by the common man as his ‘ishta devata’, or the god in-charge of the region, by the name of Golu Devta.
Similarly, Shani devta is also believed by the ancient astrologers to be a lover of justice. And, the present day astronomers have also come to learn of the sound emanating from planet Saturn to be a mix of tinkle of bells, chirping of birds, beating of drums only in the recent past. It is, therefore, not surprising - given the background that the ancient Hindus were ‘wiser’ - that as per the practice continued since long, his devotees visit his temples and tie a bell in the temples’ premises when their wish is fulfilled!
Anilji, you said, “The name is Amaleshwar & not Amareshwar.”
In view of the fact that Shiva believably is immortal that is ‘Amar’ and Narmada’s origin is at Amarkantak peak of the Vindhyas, Amareshwar sounds more appropriate, as it is being seen generally referred.
However, Amleshwar also could be one of the names given to Shiva in that region in view of the legend about Narmada‘s origin from 'Shiva’s sweat' - due to heating under the sun or 'Tapasya' - from thermal pools formed from natural geysers or sulphur springs that are generally acidic in nature (related with Amla or salt).
Another reaction to the newspaper article for information.
This refers to the Grand Contradiction – Shakti Unchained - by Sushri Narayani Ganesh (toi June 14).
For the writer’s information, irrespective of the sex of the individual concerned, human form was realized by ‘wiser’, although ancient, ‘Hindus by thought’ (as different from the ‘present day born Hindus’ obliged to copy inferior ‘western thoughts’ because of ‘Time’ – thus sailing in two different boats and ‘therefore likely to fall into the river in the middle’) as the union of Shiva & Shakti or ‘Sati’ the original consort of Ardhanarishwar Shiva, that is, bondage of infinite energy, called ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’, within the relatively exterior weaker energy converted into innumerable material forms - to reflect the grand variety in ‘Nature’.
The writer could perhaps refer to the available material on the ancient practice of ‘Shakti cult’ to know how or why Ma Kali the destroyer Shiva kept the generality of men under Her control through fear!
As per the legend related with ‘Dhubri’ the washerwoman of Assam, the Ahom kings ruled for centuries managing to keep the Moghuls away from crossing over to the region under their control in Assam, from the region under their control across the mighty Brahmaputra River - with just one washer woman deployed, where even a big army fails today!
The Hindu Mythological stories thus indicate expansion of the control over the expanding universe/ Earth through different ‘avataras’ or reincarnation of Formless Vishnu starting from a point in Kaliyuga, representing the ‘heart of Shiva’ that is Sati or Kali, near longitude 83 degree east, as it is reckoned in the present at the present day location of Varanasi that was Shiva’s original abode, Kashi on the surface of earth.
In the Kaliyuga, the avatara that is the ‘hero’ is called Kalikavatara who believably ‘rides a white horse’, maybe, thus reflecting a relationship between pure heat energy associated with planet Jupiter and our Sun (physical Vishnu and Brahma). The increase in influence range of sun with time is conveyed through the ‘Ashwamedha Yagya’ performed by ‘Suryavanshi kings’, who increased their empire by letting free a sacred white coloured horse. Any king, if he was unwilling to come under their control, was required to stop the horse and engage in a decisive battle the army that followed the white horse.
In Dwaperyuga, or the second stage, the centre of our galaxy, believably a massive star or sun that got transformed into a Black Hole that is ‘Krishna’, was reckoned as the reincarnation of Vishnu or the ‘hero’ that is in human form the best man or ‘Purushottsam’.
In Treatayuga, or the third stage, our Sun - as the leader of the solar system that represents as its essence the universe or the formless creator - came to be represented as its model by Lord Rama, the Purushottam.
And finally in Satyuga, as the fourth and final stage when the Solar system received ‘Amrit’ that is became immortal and got represented by Shiva/ our Earth as the hero or the three-in-one God in physical form.
It sounds easier said than done though, with the present apparent negligible capacity of man vis-à-vis ‘Nature’ believably on account of ‘Time’ and its inherent characteristic property despite possession of a super computer as human brain by each and everyone.
The above could be seen reflected in the story in the fables of Panchtantra also where a king appointed a monkey as his body-guard because he couldn’t trust humans. And got his nose chopped off with the sword provided to the monkey because it got infuriated by a fly that persistently sat on the king’s nose while he slept!
If anyone could accept existence of an unborn and unending powerful and super intelligent being as a possibility, as the ancients apparently did after in-depth study of ‘Nature’, then it could be easily appreciated that nothing could have been/ is impossible for the Supreme Being through any character as a medium, which could also be easily appreciated at any time as it gets reflected in the super-computer-like functioning of the universe/ earth.
With the above as background, and with the age old saying, “Satyameva Jayate,” in mind, that is, “Truth ever prevails,” perhaps the Hindu mythological stories could help one appreciate how the Supreme Being could have been reviewing His past for His Own purpose, just as it gets reflected in man trying to maintain historical records in different subjects, although these are limited to a negligible period in the past compared to the life of earth that is over 4 billion years already. The ‘wiser’ ancients, on the other hand - seeking the essence only - appear to have managed to reach the origin and, unlike the present day scientists, they conveyed the ‘Truth’ through simple stories even for the laypersons, which however appear difficult to comprehend by the present day man, perhaps because of ‘Time’ and mischievous nature of the Creator.
It is perhaps the language and the terminology they used that are the main cause of one not comprehending today what was said in the past. For example, the most commonly used word is ‘Maya’ that is illusion, which seems to have reached and perhaps also clearly understood even in the remotest region of India. For example, translated into Hindi, say, there is a simple couplet carried forth through time, “Prabhu ki kaisi yeh maya hai/ Kahin dhoop kahin per chhaya hai.” Read together with the belief of earth as ‘a market where only lies are sold’ or “Mithya Jagat”, it perhaps conveyed that human life is only a drama-like phenomenon, reflected in the ‘shadow play’, or ‘son et lumiere’, and therefore not to be taken seriously as the Absolute Truth. Rather, life was believed meant to be enjoyed just as one enjoyed Rama leela, or Krishna leela, and so on.
And perhaps therefore even in the Gita, one was advised to 'surrender in Krishna', and enjoy life as a witness or as a spectator only, for it was conveyed as being beyond average human comprehensin to realize the ‘Truth’, particularly in Kaliyuga that is present, on account of the lowest possible human efficiency during this Yuga or era compared to 100% efficiency of immortal Earth or Shiva the Amareshwar in physical form or Omkareshwar in energy form that is energy represented by ‘Om’, which continues to ever pervade in ‘Nature’ thanks to Goddess Saraswati.
And, Goddess of knowledge, learning and music, Saraswati, is symbolically depicted in white sari, by Hindus since long, as the consort of Brahma, indicating in a cryptic language thus the now well known relationship between Sun and the energy, or white sunlight, emanating from it.
And, as we have seen earlier also elsewhere, the sound emanating from our Sun has been recorded by western astrophysicists recently and found it similar to that of the musical instrument guitar, which got popularised in the west in the present era. However, the ancient Hindu Yogis related Goddes Saraswati with the seven-stringed musical instrument Veena that’s being played particularly in south India since time immemorial. And, astrologers indicated Sun as the ruler of the direction south!
Also, it could perhaps be of interest to know that Hindu mythological stories indicate Brahma’s day to be over 4 billion years and that at the end of His day, when Brahma felt sleepy, He inadvertently started speaking aloud secret information in the four Vedas, which the demon Hayagriva heard and memorized. Lord Vishnu had to therefore appear in the form of a fish, as ‘matsyavatar’, to kill him and to return the Vedas to Brahma when He reappeared at the end of His night, and also to save Manu (Earth and samples of the variety of life upon it) and the seven sages or ‘Saptarishis’ from the deluge – thus related with immortal Earth-Moon and the Ursa Major and the pole star that help ships to navigate in the vast open seas in the night, that is, act as guides or Gurus.
There is another legend related with formation of west flowing River Narmada and the east flowing River Sone, both with their origins in the Vindhyas. It is popular that two teardrops fell from the eyes of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe, and yielded the two rivers.
It is easy to correlate the above phenomenon with the hill slopes and known water-cycle set up due to unequal rates of heating - by Brahma or sun with its sunrays - of land mass and the body of water in the Arabian Sea in the southwest of India that results in the annual south-west monsoon winds and consequent rainfall all over the country on an average of about 100 days.
There is yet another legend related with the Vindhyas. That is, once Lord Shiva the Destroyer (Earth) went begging using Brahma the Creator’s skull as a begging bowl (pointing towards the Sun - with Earth as the driving force). He couldn’t manage to get any alms in all the three worlds (indicating that life-giving water is essential for growing food). Ultimately, he went to Vaikunth, the abode of Lord Vishnu the Preserver, and asked Him for alms. However, Lord Vishnu showed Lord Shiva his index finger (thus indicating how the ancient Palmists understood the index finger in human hand to symbolically represent Moon, or Guru the superior, as the source of all water on earth). Enraged, Lord Shiva cut Lord Vishnu’s fingers with his trishul, or trident. His fingers began to bleed profusely, and the blood accumulated in Brahma’s skull (like-giving in human body like water), to soon overflow from it. The flow became a stream and finally a river – the Ganga-like sacred Shipra before emergence of the Himalayas from under the sea and Kailash-Mansarovar thereafter acting as the perennial source of Ganga & Yamuna Rivers and also of Brahmaputra!
Also, mention of ‘blood flowing from the fingers of Vishnu’ - that is well understood even by a layperson also as the life-line in human body – points towards ‘Kali’, or ‘Krishna’, (both meaning black), associated with red colour, both as the destructive force of the hot lava of active volcanoes, which lies at the core or ‘heart’ of earth, as well as the creative force in the form of the fertile soil that results on the surface of earth after the molten magma has flowed over the mouth of the crater and down the hill slopes, causing large scale destruction in its wake, and then having cooled down after coming in contact with ‘air’ or ‘water’ and turning black in colour!
In view of the apparently unending universe and limited life-span of human form that, although, believably as an image of God, or a model of the universe, heads the list of the animal world - and thus capable of realizing the ‘Absolute Truth’ - the ‘wiser’ ancients (in the Gita too) suggested ‘surrender in God’. For, they had apparently come to realize that He alone is related with zero time and space and as ‘Nadbindu’ the original Formless Creator located at the centre of our earth it contains ‘supreme knowledge’ besides ‘supreme power’.
And, although all other physical forms were/ are Nadbindu’s reflections, those reflected only limited knowledge and related power at any other apparent time ranging from zero to infinity and therefore helped any person to utilize the more ‘elevated ones’ or Gurus, as steps in a ladder, primarily to reach Him. For, it was realized, as in the present also, that the basic principle of creation was common for all apparently different looking objects (and differently acting persons also, a fact yet to be rellized in the present).
‘Surrender in God’ therefore can be observed reflected in day-to-day life in an average devotee physically lying prostrate on the ground, (thus unknowingly indicating symbolic merger of the material form with Earth that is ‘mrityulok’), in front of a witness, an idol, which itself also is made from some material obtained from Earth itself, although, maybe cast in different forms, and, therefore, perhaps unknowingly indirectly representing Earth or Shiva the Bhootnath only.
All the while during stay on earth, one is apparently playing ‘cat & mouse game’ with earth, for in the end all the dust earth had loaned to different life forms for certain duration would merge with earth for recycling, and believably letting go of the soul that was imprisoned in those forms for that many years of one’s stay - when perhaps they are no more useful to Shiva in those forms – believably for recycling, or getting liberated from the birth-death-rebirth cycle, that is, attaining ‘moksha’, believed as the sole purpose of man!
In the good old days, 'Brahmins' used to gather every 12 years, (because planet Jupiter, that is, Brihaspati the Guru of 'selfless people', that is, 'devtas', has a cycle of that many years, and he believably is the supervisor of 'churning of thoughts' in the heads of different individuals as per realization of the 'wiser' Yogis), on the banks of Ganga: At Haridwar; Kashi that is Varanasi; or Allahabad near 'Sangam' , etc. and do 'shastrartha' or 'brain storming' to iron out differences, if any, in thoughts regarding 'Truth' and 'Absolute Truth' that were supposed to be carried forth since time immemorial in the original form. For, due to the characteristic property of time, deterioration not only of materials, but also of thoughts was realized inevitable. For example, Iron will rust, unless treated with suitable preservative.
And, unfortunately for devtas (selfless) as well as for demons (the selfish), it is 'Time' or 'Mahakal' Shiva whose will only matters! All good, as well as bad, things come to an end at some point or points of time!
Let's hope the wheel of time, that is, 'Kalchakra' points towards Satyuga soon!
Hi Anilji, I missed to comment on your, “All the scluptures of Sun God are shown with Footware!”
As per the popular and interesting incident cited in Ramayana, ‘Suryavanshi Prince’, Rama the heir apparent to the throne of Ayodhya, was asked to abdicate the throne in favour of his step brother and Kekayi’s son Bharat, and also exiled by his father Dasharatha - literally ‘the one whose chariot was pulled by 10 horses’ - for 14 years because Dasharatha was obliged to honour the two boons he had given to one of his three wives, Rama’s step mother, Kekayi. For, she had once saved his life in a battle when the kingpin of one of the wheels of his chariot was broken and she had placed her finger in its place!
And, although they were not exiled themselves, Lakshamana, his younger brother, and his newly-wed wife, Sita, also proceeded on foot to the forest Dandakaranya with Rama.
However, because Bharat wasn’t physically present in Ayodhya when they had left, on his return from his grandfather’s house, he attempted in vain to bring Rama back to the throne of Ayodhya that he deserved better than him. Failing in that attempt, he brought Rama’s footware and ruled by proxy over Ayodhya with those placed on the throne!
The above incident, read as the essence of Ramayana, obviously indicates Bharat as the model of the centre of our galaxy; Rama as that of our Sun that is Brahma at the beginning of one of Brahma’s fresh day, needing to be trained and thereafter to expand his influence range through ‘ashwamedha yagyas’; Lakshamana as that of our Earth; Sita as that of the mysterious and superior most Moon; and so on.
The ‘footware of Rama’ thus refers to the life-giving energy carried through sunlight which in reality is the ‘Ruler’ throughtout a day in the life of Brahma - indicated through the incident of revival of Ahalya, who had been turned into a rock in her last life by her husband, merely with the touch of dust attached to Rama’s feet, thus referring in reality to the cosmic particles that are present in earth’s atmosphere at all times for exploitation by man as the superior most model of God!
Kavitha, I give below a note I prepared in response to a reaction to some thoughts on Shani sent by a friend.
Without going into the article as such, I would just give the 'Hindu' background -
The ancient Hindus, apparently after in-depth studies, reached the 'Truth' that man is a model of the universe. Satyam Shivam Sunderam communicated the essence, that is, 'Shiva is beautiful and He alone is the Truth'. The description of Shiva, however, could be seen to match with that of our most evolved among planets, that is, 'Earth' as the essence of infinite universe. The Hindu astronomers also indicated earth as the centre of the universe.
They also realized Earth as inert, or detached - that characteristic property reflected by planet Saturn that has beautiful rings ('sudershan chakra' related with Lord Vishnu) as a witness, as one of Earth's own image - supported eternally by other members of the Solar system also, from Sun to Jupiter, who too, besides being used to define the 360 degrees of space and also reflect the apparent hierarchy in all aspects of 'Nature', were individually also performing some equally important task, like the different parts of a tree work for each other that man is familiar with as a 'natural' example for any human to easily comprehend. The Solar system thus came to be realized as Mahashiva, with each vital organ representing some 'planet', having their essences at different levels along the 'Merudand'...
Interestingly, Meru Town is located on one of the slopes of Mount Kenya in the African continent and is at the same altitude as that of Almora, around 5,200 feet, and perhaps therefore Almora as the original and Meru as its image in the 'present'! And, Almora is in Kurmanchal, that could bring to one's mind the 'Kurmavatar' that is the form of Tortoise of Vishnu who believably supported the planet earth on its hard back to save it from sinking when churning of milky ocean was started at the beginning of a fresh Brahma's day in the evolutionary process under the supervision of Jupiter, after his previously ended day as Matsyavatar or Vishnu in the form of Fish. And, interstingly, also a look at the Antarctica, the base or South Pole of earth, could be seen to appear in the form of a tortoise!
God's reflection as an artist can also be observed from the shapes of, say North America appearing like an Eagle, reflected in the flag also as their National Bird, while the Hindus indicated Garuda as the vehicle of Vishnu! And, similarly one could observe the head of Nandi the bull, that believably is Shiva's vehicle, with a fresh look at the familiar continent of 'down under' Australia!
Maybe one could also see the 'lion' in the shape of undivided 'India', with the background legendary belief that child Bharat played bare handed with lions!
I would like to add that the brave child Bharat reportedly was the son of Mother Shakuntala who had married King Dushyant when he had come on a visit to the hermitage or Ashram of sage Kanva and thereafter left her there with a promise to take her back to his kingdom, but forgot her completely because of the believable curse of Sage Durvasa. And later, when Shakuntala, in person, with the brave child born and brought up in the hermitage visited him, he didn’t recall the event (Apsmara purush that he was) and, also, Shakuntala couldn’t show him the wedding ring as a proof, because she had lost it in a pond in the Ashram! But, as (her good) luck would have it, the ring was found in the belly of a fish by a fisherman who happened to bring it to the king that very moment with the hope of receiving some award in return for it! It then helped the king to recall the past and beg excuse from Shakuntala, and thus helping in a happy ending to the story!
Similarly Ganesha is reported as the son of Parvati! And, Parvati is also known as the eight-handed Durga who rides the tiger as her vehicle! She is believed to be the one who is responsible for removal of ignorance of a ‘Hindu’s mind’, where she reportedly resides, as indicated in the reported killing of the demon Mahishasur, who had appeared in the form of black buffalo, and therefore the saying, “Kala akshar bhainsa barabar,” that is, for an illiterate, black letters are like a buffalo!
Kavitha, It appears funny my commenting without any reactions from anybody for long intervals!
It gives me a feeling as if I am a teacher addressing a Class of students who is either not able to comprehend my words - that I present as I dig them out from the heads of the believably 'wiser' ancients - because those appear to go over their heads, or they too think like my Sikh (meaning student of the Formless Teacher, or Guru, through the sacred book) friend, who thought the Guru Granth didn't attract the present day Sikh youth that much as it didn't contain advice on how to turn 'iron into gold'!
I therefore don't know what the Creator has in His mind and therefore my loud thinking also continues as per his will waiting for teh right time!
Joshi Uncle,As far as Interpretation of Indian Mythology is considered,you are indeed our teacher & I am sure Kavitha would also agree with me.The Thing is that at timesyour pupils are too occupied with their daily routine.Please keep writting.We all gain a lot from it!
Hi Anilji, It is good to hear from you. In fact I was hoping to hear from you more about your recent visit to the Himalayas.
As a child I used to find the heat of the plains, after return from that region, relatively more difficult to bear! However, my first visit to Nainital had filled me with awe with the overall impact, when immediately after the torturous bus journey from the hot summer plains I came face to face with the naturally cool breeze; blue water of the lake sprinkled with coloured boats/ a few sail boats; green hill-tops, and so on.
We stayed there for almost three weeks, and enjoyed boating in the lake from Mallital to Tallital and back, almost 3 Km, rowing ourselves both in the evening as well as in the morning despite boils appearing at the bases of the fingers – a single trip in a double-boat, with two pairs of oars, then cost three-fourth of a rupee! Early morning we used to visit some hill-top, and I tried my hand at roller skates and horse-ride also once, which too were unique experiences.
Although we visited Nainadevi Temple on the Flats then too, but the thought that the highest China peak and the Naini lake at its foot hills could perhaps represent the sacred Mount Kailash-Lake Mansarovar, or Shiva-Parvati, appeared to me only relatively recently – thanks to Kavitha’s blog!
Anilji, Kavitha, here is another reaction to an article in the newspaper.
This refers to the SOTTO VOCE article, ‘Who is a Hindu?’ by Shri Rohit Viswanath (toi June 18).
The writer’s conclusion, “Hindus are actually those who live on the banks of the INDUS (!),” proves God is fooling Himself through His Own Images. And, 'born Hindus' and wise men of the media, like those of Gotham, are helping Him in this cause whole heartedly!
May Indu, that is Moon, that is Parvati, or Durga the eight-handed Goddess – known also as “Mahishasur mardini” - that is who alone can take ‘Hindus by thought’ out of, dark buffalo-like, ‘darkness of ignorance’, bless our souls!
"Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya...", that is, "Lead the kindly light!" Maybe it would help if the writer tries to explain why 'Hindus', and 'Muslims' too, use lunar calendar even today.
Anilji is right Joshi uncle, I really wish to take time out and go through each of your comments and understand them, and for the last few months I have not been able to give it justice.
Please continue with your writing and am sure your wealth of knowledge is of help to a lot more people.
I would also like to inform you that one of the most sort after keywords on my site is your name.
People access my blog using your name in searches.
Thank you once again
Regds
Kavitha
Kavitha, Thank you! I am glad to hear that! Believing it to be His will, I had no intention to quit, although sometimes there was a feeling of guilt, or a feeling that maybe I wasn’t doing proper justice with the subject(s).
To be frank, through this process of search and research I have also gained in widening of my field of vision, that is, of the believable energizing of the ‘third eye’ and retaining the essences only, a process akin to, say, fractional distillation of petroleum, or segregation of aggregates of different ranges of size in a ‘sieve shaker’, and so on, to visualize the concept of hierarchy in all aspects of ‘Nature’ and in humans too as it’s integral part, a fact that is yet to be accepted in the present because of the overpowering effect of the belief of supremacy of the west that is as per Hindu thoughts believably under the control of mischievous ‘satan’, through planet Saturn, the son of Sun (the controller of South) and a reflection of Earth itself (the controller of ‘Time’ and related events through eons)!
With the background knowledge about Moon as the believable source of water on earth as one of the necessary ingredients for growing all food items, and with Parvati as its model in human form, ‘Annapurni’, or ‘Annapurna’, obviously refers to the Moon, whose essence believably is housed in the head of human form.
The relative movements of earth and moon are such that the same side of moon is always facing the terrestrials. Apparent waxing and waning of Moon is caused by the fluctuation in the area of its surface that comes into play in reflecting like a mirror the sunlight falling upon it due to relative movements of earth-moon and sun. Daily variation in the appearance of its form in the sky, varies from full moon, when sunlight falls on its full face, to new moon, when no area is lighted up by sun.
Moon is also referred as Ma Gouri, associated with Yellow colour and - as unlike earth it has no atmosphere of its own - it reflects the entire sunlight that falls upon it. The moonrays believably thus act as ‘somrus’ or ‘amrit’ to Earth, like the life-giving mother’s milk to an infant.
But to an uninitiated average man today, it is simply mysterious moonlight, as it is seen to cause higher tides on full-moon or new-moon days. However, seen through the eyes of the ‘wise’ ancients, Moon could be visualized as mother-like selfless individual and is, therefore, also seen being associated with the believably detached and selfless Formless Creator in the various Hindu mythological stories.
And, Mooladhar Chakra, or the base, is believed to house the essence of planet Mars in it. And Ganesha, associated with planet Mars, believably acts as the link between humans and the Formless Creator represented by Krishna in physical form. Also with the knowledge of Krishna’s conch shell being named as ‘Panch-janya’ that is the producer - with its Om-like sound - of the five elements, ‘sky’, ‘earth’, ‘fire’, ‘air, and ‘water’, all of which believably go into the formation of each and every physical form in the universe, indicates ‘Pancha-mukhi’, or five-faced, Ganesha, the favourite son of Parvati, associated with Orange colour, as representing all the five elements and also having the blessings of both Ma Kali, associated with Red colour, and Ma Gouri associated with Yellow colour.
Another reaction to an article in newspaper for information.
This refers to ‘Mind Opener’ article, MentalNet Access, by Shri Mukul Sharma (toi June19).
It was a positive sign to read, “When information moves from us having to manipulate external access devices to ones that are internally mounted inside our heads, we ourselves will become massively interconnected remote devices that are seamlessly online at all times too.”
‘Nature’ has a funny way to communicate the ‘Truth’ in different words at different times. Yogiraja Krishna believably told Arjuna (The Gita read between the lines) that he was a mere instrument only - functioning as per a grand design that utilized essences of the immortal members of Solar system also going into the human form’s structure with a modification to render it transient in nature, but with supreme knowledge stored in ‘Chakras’ within the form at different levels accessible only to Yogis.
And, to convince him that human life was a ‘drama’ scripted by Him, Arjuna was given the power to see with ‘divya chakshu’ or his mind’s eye how Earth/ Yogeshwar Shiva in human form was the super computer representing the perfect Formless Creator while Krishna himself represented, in Dwaperyuga, an instrument that was half as efficient as Shiva, his Supreme Form achieved through evolutionary processes only at the end of Satyuga, starting from Kaliyuga!
The whole universe believably was created originally by the Formless Creator in zero time, for He alone is related with zero time and space. And hence, as apparent time is moving from Satyuga to Kaliyuga, from perfect physical stage, that is balance between the otherwise imperfect material and the spiritual, to perfect spiritual or energy stage, the apparent physical universe is also naturally heading towards zero time and space and, hence, the apparent increasing speed of advancement in IT in the ‘present’, for that also is the ‘past’ of the apparent physical forms of the Creator, who is therefore also called Bhootnath the Lord of the Past!
As average human efficiency tends to 0% towards the end of Kaliyuga, for an average man’s, or even the ‘most intelligent’ man’s convenience, to visualize complicated subject of creation, there are innumerable examples. In this particular case, the reflection of he ‘Truth’ can be seen in the example of a ball thrown upwards into the sky with force, say struck hard with a cricket bat, which eventually reaches a state of momentary rest, to return downwards thereafter, increasing in speed as it approaches the earth before it is caught by a fielder or strikes the ground from where it had originally started with the same force…
Nice info...I will be visiting Omkareshwar in January.
Maneesh
Admirableindia.com
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