Indian Mythology - Advaitha

Not finding answer she asked next question “Who did you pity Shiva against?”

“against Vishnu ofcourse!”

Here I imagined her laughing after reading her explanation...

“As per Narayaneeyam, Vishnu means ‘all pervasive’. Other name of Vishnu is ‘Narayana’ and Ma Shakthi is called as ‘Narayani’. Did you know that? That means they are siblings – brother and sister. Vishnu as female energy is Shakthi and she in male form is Vishnu. So that makes Shakthi = Vishnu and I have already told you that Shiva = Shakthi. In short A = B = C makes C = A. It’s called transitive property in mathematics. So, Vishnu equals Shiva. So who is greater than whom?

“Sorry, this is confusing. Can you explain that? How can Vishnu and Shiva be on same platform? Are they not different? Their functions are different so their powers also should be different and that way one should be greater than the other. Moreover, Shiva came first, so naturally it means He is greater than Maha Vishnu. Right?

“I told you “All That Is” expressed itself as Shiva – Shakthi. And from the Shakthi energy came Maha Vishnu and from Shiva’s energy came Lakshmi Devi, hence they became siblings i.e., Shakthi and Vishnu are siblings just as Shiva and Lakshmi are. Forget all this as it is bit confusing and difficult for you to understand. Let’s look at their offices.

Take me for example. I am first a girl who had friends, so I am a ‘friend’ first. Then I married and became ‘wife’ then ‘mother’ and later a ‘Guru’. Now you as a student if you fight with my firend saying ‘you can’t call her by name or disrespect her as you know she is a Guru’ would it be right? It is possible, I agree but is it right? Can you expect me to be same as I am ‘as Guru’ as with my ‘kid’? Would she want this “Guru me?” No.  She says “I want only my mother” so, who am I? Which of my role is greater than the other? Does me donning one role kill my other roles by default? No. Isn’t it? Even when I am your Guru, I am someone’s friend, sister, daughter, mom etc. But do I play all these roles alike? Do I wear same attire everywhere? Do I have same mannerisms everywhere? How can I talk what I talk in class with a kid of 3 years? Obviously, I’ll behave differently with that kid. I may even blabber with the kid. Does it make this knowledge of mine faulty non-existent or a lie? Am I not the same in all the roles I play?

The ‘Me’ which is common in all is the ‘Shiva Tatvam’ – the essence of me!

The expressive me – my ‘sakaar roopam’ – the roles I don to play my various parts as the sustainer of all relationships is the Vishnu Aspect of ‘me’.

The ‘Nirguna Brahman’ is Shiva and ‘Saguna Brahman’ is Vishnu.

I’ll try to explain through one more example. You see a film. It is directed by a ‘director’ – all the characters, their mannerisms, clothing everything is His expression. So, in short He is the whole of film – all the costumes, roles, dialogues, songs etc. That is Vishnu – the sustainer. But, the film is totally ‘Producer’s – his money and energy put in there – so it is actually His’. He is nowhere but everywhere is His Presence. Everything is touched by His presence. That is Shiva”.

“then who do you say is greater?”

“Suppose I have a son name Mohanaranga. Because I am from Srirangam (assuming) I want to remember my ‘Sri Ranganathar’ daily as I am used to visiting his temple since childhood and hence called him “Ranga”. His school friends call him ‘chotu’ as he was ‘shorter of 2 Mohans in class’. His father calls him Monu. His college friends call him ‘MR’ and his present day colleagues call him by his full name. He still responds to all names. Who is he? Is he Monu or Ranga? Or is he Chotu or MR? What is he? Which name describes him?

No name can describe him. Right? Name is just to call him, address him, a pointer pointing at a person. That’s all! Name by itself doesn’t have any other purpose of value. Think about it!

If a name of a person can’t describe him, do you think God, the creator can be fitted into a name or a form? Yet, because we need to feel close to Him, get to love Him, talk about Him and hence need a name for the same. And each bhaktha (devotee)  has come up with a name that describes one or few of this quality.

contd..... 

(other posts worth visiting :  http://kantipadam.blogspot.in/search?q=happy+inspite+of+situations)