Rameshwaram – Temple for a cosmic bath
It was a moment, a moment recorded in faith, not written on a tablet or a wall but in the mind’s of the generations to follow, an event that brought awe and amazement over the truth, that there is a supernatural out there.
In the middle of the vast ocean, a King lay his feet on the sandy beaches of earth and turned the island into a sacred land. It was an island that took the shape of the sacred subtle sound OM. On this island He was advised to worship the Lord by a great sage, who guided him through his worship. It was here that his worship brought into being a huge column of fire that rose out of the ocean and presented itself as a Jyotir Linga among these sacred sands.
A miracle on the golden sands remains embedded in the mind. The vast ocean ahead gives no hint that it ever subdued to a column of fire. Its sunrise again, the calm waters send ripples to the coast, ripples that gentle toss the boats waking the world out of deep slumber. Times have changed, the very idol of the Lord that once was worshipped by the great King in the open, is now covered well within the walls of a huge temple. Three prakaras, need to be crossed to see the Lord deep within his dark chamber. A chamber where the very light of the Jyotir Linga now lies dim, and is visible only to a true sincere aspirant.
They say the great King was Lord Rama who was advised by sage Agastya to perform the worship to Lord Shiva to rid himself off the karma of having killed Ravana, a great Shiva Bhakta. It was Hanuman who went to the banks of Narmada (or Kailasa is debatable) and brought back the Shiva Linga for the worship but didn’t make it in time. Lord Rama made a replica of the Lord in sand and Lord Shiva rose to give it its life. Hanuman was very disappointed that he didn’t make it in time and that the ritual was performed in his absence. He tried to uproot the Linga but was unsuccessful and the marks of it are still visible on the Linga. The Shiva Linga Hanuman brought was also installed, a little to the south, and should be worshipped first before the main Linga is worshipped.
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It’s a different world there, when one descends into Rameshwaram, with 51 theerthams scattered around this island. 22 of these wells are well within the temple complex. The feeling of purity is very evident when you walk through the corridors, bathing at each well and heading into the temple to finally meet the Lord. The times have changed, the dark torch lit corridors now blaze with electric lights, yet the pillars and the music carries you back into those times, of a different living, perfect living with a slower life and more room for peace and spiritualism and oneness with the Lord.
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Once we have understood that humans are models of the universe and are represented through ‘satva’ or essences of the selected members of the solar system and their permutations and combinations. And that ‘Krishna’ in Dwaperyuga typically represents the essence of moon, as ‘Peetamber’, or literally the one with yellow garments; Rama typically represents the essence of the Sun, associated with white light, in Tretayuga; and Shiva typically represents our most evolved planet earth with molten magma in its core that emerges as red hot lava from time to time on the surface of earth that is associated with Green colour; and sage Agastya as the sea located in the south of the sub-continent that received the water that existed in the north of Jambudweep that India once upon a time was an island, and thereafter over a long period attained the present appearance after emergence of the Himalayas from under the sea bed, and so on, it becomes relatively easier to then comprehend the stories by reading those between the lines...
The drama of animal life with its grand variety is being sustained by earth for billions of years, apparently without much positive contribution from humans. Whatever man achieves in terms of material advancement couldn't have been possible had planet earth, or Shiva to the ancient Hindus, not obliged him and provide whatever raw material he could lay his hands on anywhere inside its bowels, on its surface and even in the atmosphere. However, as a part of the design, man has to consider the pros and cons in advance as material has both its positive as well as negative effects...for this purpose he has been provided a super computer in the brain, but unfortunately without any literature for its proper use!
Logically, if man is a model of the universe, as the most evolved life amongst all life forms that are sustained by earth since time immemorial - like different specimens in a man-made museum, each reflecting some period in the past - then earth should be the Heavenly Body that is most evolved amongst all physical forms that constitute the physical universe that it sustains. And, therefore, the ancients also appear to have indicated earth as the place where although death of material form is certain, i.e., ‘mrityulok’/ Shiva the Destroyer as ‘The Only Beautiful Truth’, or the essence of the physical universe represented by the solar system for the apparent variety. However, in the ultimate analysis, earth too was indicated as ‘mithya’ or a lie, i.e., illusory, and only the infinite energy believably located at its core or heart as the Absolute Truth…
Today we are told by scientists that our Sun is the source of all direct and indirect forms of energy on our planet earth. The mythological stories communicate the essence in cryptic language. The Ramayana also indicates how Ahalya - who was turned into a stone in her last life due to a curse by her husband because of mischief of Indra that is Sun - regained her original female human form just with the touch of Rama’s feet, which could be interpreted, with the background knowledge, as the life-giving sunlight, and human form also to contain the same elements that are present in the earth.
The ancient wise Hindus indicate our Sun, or Brahma (as one of the three aspects of the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesha), also to virtually go to sleep at the end of Brahma’s day of over 4 billion years when all life forms on earth are frozen at the existing stage, to restart from that stage when yet another day in the unending life of Brahma starts...
The stories indicate, through the character of Ma Kali who is symbolically depicted with red tongue/ Sati the original consort of Shiva who committed suicide in the sacred fire, the apparently destructive force in the form of molten magma at the core or heart of earth. And, the top-soil of the earth points towards Shiva as the one who has the ashes of the crematoria applied to His body, whereas the mountains formed due to volcanic activity indicate Shivalingams or Rudrakshas, 'the angry eyes' of Shiva that came to be worshipped as representing the Formless unending Shiva.
Also, the character of Kartikeya the physically powerful favourite son of Shiva in Satyuga who uses a peacock as his vehicle points towards hard rocks that contain all metals including gold and are present under the softer soil on top of those. In Ramayana, or in the story of lesser advanced times in Tretayuga, particularly the rocks containing gold, for hoarding of which Ravana was infamous, are similarly indicated to play the role of the powerful Ravana the ardent devotee of Shiva...
Continuing with the above thought, our earth - including life-giving water to represent moon that is Parvati the second wife of Shiva, and the atmosphere containing life-giving Oxygen to represent Ganesha the favourite son of Parvati in Satyuga and Hanuman or ‘Pavan-putra’, that is, the son of air in Tretayuga - on the whole, that is Yoga of the essences of the members of the solar system was considered as Mahashiva as indicated in the mythological stories, which read between lines could help understand the solar system from the behaviour of humans, and vice versa…
In the present, the majority finds it difficult (like me too when I was young, and circumstances only forced me to attempt in-depth study, if I was permitted by Time, with a view to reaching the ‘Truth’ through the eyes of the ancient Hindus through their creations/ writings) to accept that what one apparently views ‘outwards’ could be an unending story of the past of the one and the only immortal Bhootnath Shiva, that is, literally the Lord of the Past, which I realized when I pondered over the question: Why do the stories indicate the drama in human life to pertain to decreasing human efficiency from 100% in Satyuga to 0% in Kaliyuga repeatedly in cycles numbering over 1000 times during one day in the life of Brahma, which is indicated as over 4 billion years, and which is followed by His night also of the same duration? On the other hand, the story of ‘churning of the milky ocean’ by demons, or selfish, and devtas, or selfless beings suggests solar system members, including our earth, reaching immortality, similarly in four stages of evolution, starting from a dormant stage, say at the beginning of Kaliyuga…as it is evident even today from all attempts at advancement, by most intelligent persons located all over the world, appear to lead to relatively greater unhappiness in the masses all over the world, although a small percentage at the helms of affairs might, like Ravana apparently did, seem to enjoy the ‘gold’ amassed by them in their own Lanka-like islands…
Planet Earth itself was realized by ancient scientists, called Yogis, that is, the ones who withdrew themselves from the normal habitation to the seclusion of, say, Himalayan caves, like models of the centre of our galaxy, or Black Hole, that was Yogiraja Krishna for them, as the Yoga or union of representations of different characteristic properties of eight different planets by their respective gravitational forces and the dynamic forces that kept the members rotating as well as revolving, that is ‘churning’ the space, which kept them together as different vital organs of the solar system, similarly believably like within the animal form that constitute a compact system as an image of God – energies believably concentrated at different levels as ‘Bandhas’ or ‘Chakras’ or energy centres from the base to the head, i.e., from ‘mooladhar’ to ‘sahasrara’.
However, although zero time and space applies to the Formless, Apparent Time created by the different aspects of Shiva Himself, that is, Brahma the Sun and Shiva-Parvati the earth-moon, in which moon represents Krishna/ Vishnu, or Mahakal believably is the cause apparent of the unending drama through eternity, perhaps with a view to the Formless seeking its own origin or mother.
The ancient wise Hindus, however, couldn’t believably reach its origin or the end…that is the purpose of teh Creator...
womuThe mythological stories about (Maha)Shiva holding poison in His throat immediately after churning was commenced under the supervision of Jupiter indicate Venus, the planet that has a poisonous atmosphere, as the peak during Ksliyuga. Therefore, assuming Asteroids related with red colour at the bottom or starting point, the order of planets up to Venus in one channel could, perhaps, be Jupiter associated with Infra-red next in the hierarchy followed by Sun associated with white light, and Mercury associated with Ultra-violet energy, to finally reach the peak in Venus associated with blue colour.
In the other channel, the order could be Mars associated with orange after red, Moon associated with yellow colour, Earth associated with Green colour - to finally reach Venus...
The above is the loud thought under consideration for trial by me...
As seen from ancient practice of Astrology and Palmistry etc. continued since time immemorial, although without knowledge of the bases, it is clear that the ancients had advanced in the knowledge of astronomy applied to humans.
Even the seven days in a week are named after members of our solar system. Sunday as the day of rest, as per 'Christian' belief perhaps points towards the occurrence of Brahma/ Sun's night after His day of over 4 billion human years as per 'Hindu' belief.
History also tells us that when 'Aryans' were highly advanced, Europe was inhabitated by barbarians. And, that Aryans had got displaced from some place that is not known to one today, but they appear to have settled in Europe also, although the majority chose 'India' as their ultimate place of rest...Thus it is not surprising that the Bible contains similar thoughts about Creation as they have continued to persist in India for a longer duration...for 'East is East'...
With the above as background, one could perhaps visualize how the concept of one formless God and all physical forms as His different appearing images formed the basis of the 'Hindu philosophy...
Astrology and Palmistry etc. perhaps helped man realize the behaviour of apparent physical forms with the passage of apparent time...And, also how gemstones, reflecting the essence of different components of earth that in turn reflected the apparent properties of other planets, helped in improvement of human efficiency - if they were properly used...
Kavitha, It is a Sunday, but not the day of rest for Krishna!
Although Sun/ Brahma as one of the aspects of Trinity apparently goes to sleep at the end of one of His days in His unending life, believably like animals on the physical form of Shiva or planet earth that also believably get frozen, to get reactivated with the commencement of a fresh day (as it gets reflected in animal/ human form too through many Sundays till it lasts) Krishna the representative of Vishnu as ‘the light of thousand suns’, or as the physical model of the Supreme Gravity, however, says that He continues to work every second (like human brain where the essence of Moon believably is housed and other vital organs too) in order to sustain His infinite Creation…Hence perhaps the highest pedestal given to Someshwar/ Parvati by the ancients and Krishna is indicated as the only lucky son of Devki-Vasudeva who miraculously escaped from the hands of His maternal uncle Kansa, and the Yogis indicate total energy within human form to be concentrated at one point in the brain to reach ‘moksha’ or realization of the Absolute Truth…
The Formless has in the recent past apparently given the thought to the ‘western scientists’ to search for extraterrestrial life guided by life forms they had come to know as those believably existed on earth. However, now a Panel of scientists convened by America’s leading advisory group has, as per newspaper report in New York Times by one Carl Zimmer, advised the scientists to expand the search widely to include ‘weird life’: Organisms that lack DNA or other molecules found in life as they knew it…Thus, a 'Hindu by thought’ could perhaps have visualized and enjoyed what the ancient ‘wise Hindus’ conveyed when they called Krishna as ‘Natkhat’ or mischievous. Or, what was meant by the concept of war between the demons (who ruled the west) and the devtas (who ruled the east), at the end of which either demons or devtas became victorious. Thus, in Kaliyuga, the emergence of poison, that is, 'halahal' or 'kalkoot' - indicated in the mythological stories - communicates the rule of the physically powerful west, including the minority that followed them in the east, while the majority of ‘spiritual east’ apparently suffers physically and mentally. They could perhaps hope for better time to come in the near future!
The Indian media in the present days is full of material related with the candidates for the Presidential election on one hand, which in the past wasn’t ever a big issue, while on the other hand, once a while, there is some news about rapid ice-melt of the otherwise taken for granted snowcapped Himalayas that could wreak havoc in Nepal and India if nothing is done by each and every developed as well as developing countries to reverse the global warming. It is perhaps a repetition of the mythological story of Shiva & Bhasmasur, or Kalidas reportedly sawing off the branch on which he himself was seated…
The rapidly deteriorating conditions seen in either case perhaps could help one, even a ‘born Hindu’, realize the inevitable truth indicated by the wise ancient ‘Hindus’ about ‘Mahakal’, or the Controller of Time, or 'Bhootnath' the Lord of the past who is apparently reviewing His past since (apparent) time immemorial from the stage of perfection that is balance between the material and the spiritual reached by Him and back to the stage of imperfection, that is, 100% spiritual and near 0% material till the surface of Earth that is rendered immortal, and not its centre that is formless, a stage from which He had originally started, for He Himself otherwise is related with zero time and also zero space…
Once it is understood that Mahashiva in the ‘Hindu’ mythological stories point to the solar system as the essence of the universe with each member serving some useful purpose to keep the system working till eternity. And, that Chandrashekhara or Gangadhara Shiva, similarly, points to our ‘planet earth’ - also as essence of the universe - with Brahma the Sun, and Parvati/ Vishnu the Moon, including earth, considered as the major aspects of the Formless void of the universe…
What is the purpose of animal life on earth then? That’s the question that apparently agitates the mind of the humans. The Yogis or sages as characters in His Story have answered this question by stating man also as model of the universe, or an image of God…
The mythological stories, such as that of King Trishanku getting suspended in the space ship launched by Sage Vishwamitra in the failed mission to reach Moon though, and many other stories related with Sage Narada's travels to different locations in space, indicate space travel undertaken in the past also. Similarly, in the recent times man has apparently been successful to send a few cosmonauts/ astronauts to different space missions besides launching a number of space probes - that send data through digital computers to scientists located on earth itself - in order to gather information on various aspects, and thus to know more about the distant Heavenly Bodies...
With the above as background, perhaps one could - to some extent - visualize the purpose of animal forms as instruments of the Formless God that are used to gather information about His Own Creation that He achieved in no time - to review it thereafter leisurely…
A seeker would perhaps easily find examples from the various activities performed by human beings, even in any one corner or all parts of the world today, for Krishna - through the wise ancient characters - says that He can be reached by anyone, irrespective of one’s sex, caste, creed, and so on, only if one surrender in Him, i.e., one must have full faith in Him under all conditions, unmoved doubtlessly despite innumerable apparent negative forces in ‘Nature’…
For example, one could visualize oneself as, say, a kite being flown by a 'skilled' kite-flier as I happened to realize it at some point of time. Briefly, one can see Venus’ ‘poison’ or hurdles in the form of buildings, telephone/ electric wires, trees and so on that one is required to maneuver right in the first stage before the kite could be properly air borne. Later on, although apparently the sky only is the limit, one has to take care of competition from other kites, and last, but not the least, the vagaries of ‘Nature’…
When one is to come down from a great height, the modern day sport developed by the materialistic west, the bungee jump, could help one visualize how one needs to be properly held secure at both ends by a properly tested strong rope before one takes the jump from a high-rise building or a bridge, otherwise examples of the materially, or mentally, or spiritually poor anywhere, and particularly in the present day east, demonstrate what happens to humans when they jump to the ground from high buildings…
The ritualistic visit to, say, the shrines on top of hills or at isolated locations, by born Hindus through time immemorial could help the seeker to act as a model to visualize how at any intermediate location between the base and the summit/ location of the shrine in isolated and difficult location, there could be seen some pilgrims who are on their way for the glimpse of the idol and to seek fulfillment of some of their desires, and some pilgrims who are headed towards the base for further journey back to their respective homes.
The above could also help visualize how Bhootnath Shiva could perhaps be reviewing or retracing backwards the different steps along different paths taken by each of His Own innumerable images to reach/ failed to reach the peak, the infinity, or the stage of perfection from different directions at different times – the quickest out of all images believably being the one and only Shiva, who alone believably succeeded in reaching it, and all other images being relatively inferior to Him failed short of the peak, and formed some sort of a hierarchy...to keep on trying it till one succeeded...
There is a saying, “He also serves who stands and stares.” Or, something to the effect, that everything and everyone in ‘Nature’ is serving some useful purpose. And, through a a character named St Mathew also it was conveyed, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” The ancient wise therefore appear to have made to understand that it was not for man to judge because of his lack of overall knowledge as per a grand design, and that it was the purpose of the Formless Creator that actually mattered and not human selfish interest due to short sightedness and which acted as hurdle in man reaching the ‘Truth’…And, hence the need of the trouble shooter, Ganesha or Hanuman the essence of the planet Mars represented as the son of Parvati/ Anjani, meaning Krishna or black…Krishna therefore believably plays multiple roles, including the role of Parvati associated with yellow colour as Peetamber, and also associated with red colour indicated as the tongue of Kali, and therefore with Ganesha/ Hanuman as the link between man and God, associated with orange colour, or the yoga of yellow and red
The Hindu mythological stories indicate different roles assigned to different members of the solar system during different Yugas to reflect their decreasing efficiency with time, like different roles played by the various organs of human body with their efficiency decreasing with passage of time, while some of those, viz. Moon, Earth, Venus, Mars and Sun, apparently play major roles through eternity as these apparently achieved immortality along with others - but were placed higher in the hierarchical order - over four stages through evolutionary processes, in ascending order...
And, it is indicated that the phenomenon is also now, that is after reaching immortality by the physical representatives of the Formless being, is getting continuously repeated in reverse order through animal characters in cycles of a set of four stages each, named as Satyuga, Tretayuga, Dwaperyuga, and Kaliyuga...
The Formless is called Shiva/ Vishnu, who apparently achieved perfection in human form as Krishna, His eighth re-incarnation representing essence of Moon in His head, starting from the aquatic life of a small fish that grew bigger and bigger and thus also reflecting the characteristic property of Moon. Hence one finds highest pedestal given to Moon represented in human form by Durga or Parvati, the most evolved as the second consort of Shiva, representing Earth’s exterior surface - the original consort being the energy at the heart of Shiva, that is, earth’s core, called Sati/ Kali...
Moon is also the believable source of all water on earth, represented as its essence by River Ganga on earth, which is believed to be represented in the human form as the Central Nervous System. Similarly Rivers; Yamuna that is related with Krishna; and Brahmaputra, related with Brahma the model of Sun representing the sympathetic nervous systems that are connected to the central one. All three perennial rivers have their source in Mansarovar Lake/ Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva-Parvati.
In the absence of any other reactions, believing that my words are being understood by some, I continue...like Rabindra Nath Tagore's saying of "Ekla chalo"!
Also, we have seen earlier also how the North Pole and the South Pole are considered, respectively, as the head (Sahasrara Chakra) and the base (Mooladhar Chakra) of the physical earth with six other intermediate Chakras – in all eight chakras - that represent the summation of essences of solar system’s concerned members as per some hierarchical order. And, how all the regions of earth received energy from Sun because of sun's relative movements between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn – the Poles also receiving sunlight because of earth’s tilt in Northwest-Southeast direction, which results in the setting up of annual water cycle from salt water in the ocean to fresh water on the land mass and back again to salt water in the oceans due to Southwest monsoon winds and the Himalayan range acting as a natural dam for the water laden clouds, which in the human form is believably represented by birth-death-rebirth cycle of the soul that believably changes forms like humans change their garments as a reflection of the phenomenon…
A very descriptive post indeed! Thanks for the info! I forgot to mention that my relatives love your blog. They say that it is very usefull for them to know more about temples.
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