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)

Shiva Thandava Strotam

...contd....

Once to prove his strength he lifted Mount Kailash along with Lord Shiva and his followers. Lord to teach him a lesson pressed the mountain with just his toe and Raavan was stuck under the mountain. All the worlds shook with his cry of pain. Realizing his folly, to appease his Lord he in that intense pain sang one of the most beautiful and excellent piece of poetry in Sanskrit called “Raavana kruth Shiva Tandava Strotam” It reads as :

Jatatavee gala jjala pravaha pavitha sthale,
Gale avalabhya lambithaam bhujanga thunga malikaam,
Dama ddama dama ddama ninnadava damarvayam,
Chakara chanda thandavam thanothu na shiva shivam.

From the forest of his matted lock, water flows and wets his neck,
On which hangs the greatest of snake like a garland,
And his drum incessantly plays damat, damat, damat, damat,
And Shiva is engaged in the very vigorous manly dance,
To bless and shower, prosperity on all of us.

Jata kataha sambhramabrama nillimpa nirjari,
Vilola veechi vallari viraja mana moordhani,
Dhaga dhaga daga jjwala lalata patta pavake,
Kishora Chandra shekare rathi prathi kshanam mama.

The celestial river agitatedly moving through his matted hair,
Which makes his head shine with those soft waves,
And his forehead shining like a brilliant fire-daga daga,
And the crescent of moon which is an ornament to his head,
Makes my mind love him each and every second.

Dara darendra nandini vilasa bhandhu bhandura,
Sphuradigantha santhathi pramodha mana manase,
Krupa kadaksha dhorani niruddha durdharapadi,
Kwachi digambare mano vinodhamethu vasthuni.

The consort of the ever sportive daughter of the mountain,
Whose mind rejoices at her side long glances,
With the stream of merciful look which removes hardships,
Makes my mind take pleasure in him who wears the directions as apparel.

Jada bhujanga pingala sphurath phana mani prabha,
Kadamba kumkuma drava praliptha digwadhu mukhe,
Madhandha sindhura sphurathwagu utthariya medhure,
Mano vinodhamadhbutham bibarthu bhootha bharthari. 

He, with the shining lustrous gem on the hood
Of the serpent entwining his matted locks,
He, who is with his bride whose face is decorated
By the melting of red saffron Kumkum,
And He who wears on his shoulder the hide
Of the elephant which was blind with ferociousness,
Makes my mind happy and contented,
In him who is the leader of Bhoothas*.
* can be taken to mean as souls or mythical beings guarding Kailasa.

Sahasra lochana prabhoothyasesha lekha shekhara,
Prasoona dhooli dhorani vidhu sarangri peedabhu,
Bhujangaraja Malaya nibhadha jada jhootaka,
Sriyai chiraya jayatham chakora bandhu shekhara.

May he whose foot stool is decorated
By the ever flowing flower dust.
Falling the bent head of Indra and other Gods,
And may He, whose matted locks are tied by the king of serpents,
And may he, whose head is decorated
By the crescent moon who a friend of Chakora*
Shower prosperity for ever on me.
* A mythical bird which lives by drinking moon light.

Lalata chathwara jwaladhanam jaya sphulingabha,
Nipeetha pancha sayagam saman nilimpanayakam,
Sudha mayookha lekhaya virajamana shekharam,
Maha kapali sampade, siro jadalamasthu na. 6

May he with the raging fire
In his forehead, who burnt the God of love,
May He who is forever being saluted by king of devas,
And may he who has collected
The cool ambrosia like crescent moon on his head,
And may he who wears the collection of skulls,
Bless us to create wealth for us.

Karala bhala pattika dhagadhaga jjwala,
Ddhanam jayahuthi krutha prachanda pancha sayage ,
Dharadharendra nandhini kuchagra chithrapathraka,
Prakalpanaika shilpini, trilochane rather mama. 7

May He in whose dreadful forehead, fire burns "Dhahaga", "Dhaga,"
May He who burnt the one with five arrows* as an offering to fire,
May He who is the only one who can write decorative lines,
On the tip of the breasts of the daughter of the mountain,
And May He with three eyes make mind enjoy in him.
* The God of love

Naveena megha mandali nirudha durdharath sphurath,
Kahoo niseedhi neethama prabhandha bandha kandhara,
Nilimpa nirjari darsthanothu kruthi sindhura,
Kala nidhana bandhura sriyam jagat durandhara.

May He whose black neck is as dark
As several layers of new clouds,
Packed closely on the night of the new moon.
May He who wears the celestial river on his head,
May He who killed the Gajasura with an elephant head,
May He who is very handsome because of the crescent that he wears,
And may he who carries the entire burden of the world,
Bless us with all sorts of wealth .

Prafulla neela pankaja prapancha kalima prabha,
Valambhi kanda kanthali ruchi prabandha kandharam,
Smarschidham puraschidham bhavaschidham makhachidham,
Gajachidandakachidham tham anthakachidham bhaje. 9

I salute him, who shines with a black neck
Similar to the well opened blue lotus,
On which all the temples depend for prayer,
And him who destroyed God of love, the three cities,
The worldly problems and yaga destroyers,
And him who destroyed elephant faced Asura and also God of death.,

Agarva sarva mangalaa kalaa kadamba manjari,
Rasa pravaha madhuri vijrumbha mana madhu vrtham,
Suranthakam, paranthakam, bhavanthakam, makhandakam,
Gajandhakandhakandakam thamanthakanthakam bhaje. 10

I salute him who is like the bee who drinks the sweetened honey,
That flows from the flower bunch of collection of arts of the Goddess,
And him who destroyed God of love, the three cities,
The worldly problems and yaga destroyers,
And him who destroyed elephant faced Asura and also God of death.

Jayathwadhabra vibramadbujaamga maswasath,
Vinirgamath, kramasphurath, karala bhala havya vat,
Dhimi dhimi dhimi dhwanan mrudanga thunga mangala,
Dhwani karma pravarthitha prachanda thandawa shiva. 11

Victory to the great Shiva, who has the fire burning in his forehead,
Which is increased by the breath of the snake wandering in the sky,
And to Him who dances to the changing tunes and fierce sound,
Of Dhimi, dhimi, dhimi coming out the auspicious drum.

Drusha dwichi thra thalpayor bhujanga moukthika srajo,
Garishta rathna loshtayo suhrudhwi paksha pakshayo,
Trunara vinda chakshusho praja mahee mahendrayo,
Samapravarthika kadha sadashivam bhajamyaham. 12

When will I be able to worship that eternal shiva,
With a feeling of equanimity towards snake and a garland,
Towards great gems and dirt or friends and enemies,
Or Towards a blade of grass and lotus like eyes,
Or emperor and ordinary men.

Kada nilampa nirjaree nikunja kotare vasan,
Vimuktha durmathee sada sirasthanjaleem vahan,
Vilola lola lochano lalama bhala lagnaka,
Shivethi manthamucharan kada sukhee bhavamyaham. 13

When will I live the life of pleasure, meditating on Shiva,
Sitting near a hollow place near the celestial river Ganga,
Releasing all my bad thoughts and with hands clasped above my head,
After releasing all passion for the pretty women with shifting eyes?

Imam hi nithya meva muktha muthamothamam sthavam,
Padan, smaran broovan naro vishudhimethi santhatham,
Hare Gurou subhakthimasu yathi nanyadha gatheem,
Vimohinam hi dehinaam sushakarasya chithanam. 14

This greater than the great prayer if read,
Remembered, or recited daily by man,
Will make him pure, eternal,
And he would get devotion to Shiva leading him to salvation,
For remembering Lord Shiva, is a sure method of removal of detachment.

Poojavasana samaye dasa vakhra geetham,
Ya shambhu poojana param padthi pradhoshe,
Thasya sthiraam radha gajendra thuranga yuktham,
Lakshmeem sadaiva sumukheem pradadathi shambu. 15

He who sings this song composed by the ten headed one,
At the end of every worship or,
Reads it after worship of Shiva on the Pradosha day,
Will get by the blessing of lord Shiva, chariots, elephants and horses,
As well as the affectionate sight of god of wealth.

Ithi Ravana krutham,
Shiva thandava stotram,
Sampoornam,

Thus ends the prayer of the dancing Shiva,
Composed by Ravana.

...contd....

Indian Mythology - Advaitha

Contd.....

He knew that I didn’t like cleaning and yet wasn’t judging me on that! Wow! Did others also know this and yet never mentioned about it or make an issue of it? Surprising! Who are these people who made up my group?

Coming to him, he was talking about the day I left after she talked about Shiva-Parvathi. That day, I had left with heavy heart and here was this ‘pure soul’ thinking I left because of some urgent work. So good of him! It’s rightly said by her “You are what you read!”

“The way you see others doesn’t talk about who they are, but it talks about who YOU ARE!” This was true!

That apart, what ‘missing’ was he talking about? Did she not wrap up when I left that day? Did she really say something worth a name after I left that day? These thoughts were pounding my head and I felt a knot in my stomach as I opened ‘his papers’ to read.

“Thank-you, Guruji. You cleared my long pending doubt ‘who is the ultimate God?’ by all this explanation on Shiva-Parvathi. I am glad I am a Shiva Bhaktha” said someone.

“Really, who is that?” she asked (I imagined her to have a twinkle in her eye.

“Shiva of course!”

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

“From what you said....”

“When did and where did I give such a statement or an impression or inference of that sort?” she asked amused. She was smiling as if at an innocent yet stupid statement of a 3yr old kid.

Vishnu had actually written only dialogues as

s- student ;  S- She /Guruji

s – shiva of course....

S-from what...

s- when and....

I found that incomplete so added my touch of feelings to it as I continued reading it....

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?

contd..... 

(interesting reads from previous posts http://kantipadam.blogspot.in/search?q=a+land+called+India)

Raavan - The Ultimate antagonist

Raavan

 

Raavan – the name invokes image of fearsome and a ferocious personality. And as presumed by some, mothers were telling their children “so jaa bête varna Raavan aa jayega”. But that was not the case. Mandodari fell hopelessly in love with him. And she was considered one of the “Miss worlds” of her times. 

 Mandodari - Queen of Ravana

His ‘tejas’ (nearest word can be aura. Tejas can be understood as a brilliance that one gains or has because of energy field around him) was so powerful that many wouldn’t be able to see him directly. This ‘tejas’ can’t be bought or manipulated. It is earned only through intense tapas and penance.

That goes to prove that he had great self-restraint and an even greater determination to do penance for thousands of years – because of which he got his tejas. Moreover, his concentration powers were beyond normal levels. Otherwise, how could he please Lord Shiva so much with his penance that he appeared before him and granted a boon that he would be called “Greatest Devotee of Shiva”.

 

Not only that he again did penance to appease Lord Brahma for thousands of years to seek a boon of immortality and he got it too.

 

Ravana as a Bhaktha : some scriptures state that he constructed “Golden Lanka” to gift it as a abode to Lord Shiva. Others state that he sought Lanka from Shiva. Either way, just imagine his intimacy with the Lord. Even devas were afraid of his anger and were always wary of Him, that Lord Shiva he had audacity to gift or seek his abode from him. Call it his arrogance, closeness or stupidity but the fact remains that he was so close to Lord Shiva that he could seek anything from Him and even Shiva was so amused and pleased with his bhakthi that He entertained his requests.

Once to prove his strength he lifted Mount Kailash along with Lord Shiva and his followers. Lord to teach him a lesson pressed the mountain with just his toe and Raavan was stuck under the mountain. All the worlds shook with his cry of pain. 

Realizing his folly, to appease his Lord he in that intense pain sang one of the most beautiful and excellent piece of poetry in Sanskrit called “Raavana Tandava Strotam”. Click  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Vqrvjezbc  if you are interested to listen. 

And to know its sanskrit lyrics click : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvUF4LkmwKo

And to see its meaning click ……https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYNFTxyyc4k

...contd....