tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80437850508731040812024-02-19T03:22:40.524-08:00Ashavin kirukalhal - part 2Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-38515311931541051342010-09-07T08:37:00.000-07:002010-09-07T08:39:21.422-07:00New BlogHence forth the commentaries of Lalitha sahasranamam, will be continued on this blog address:<br /><a href="http://asha-lalithasahasranamam.blogspot.com/2010/09/ls-149.html">http://asha-lalithasahasranamam.blogspot.com/2010/09/ls-149.html</a>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-17624900840073639152010-08-17T07:00:00.000-07:002010-08-17T07:00:47.709-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 148148.Nithya Shuddha.- She who is forever clean.This sentence is made only for us to understand what really purity means.<br />A certain view of purity has declared that "To the pure all things are pure," implying the idea that things in themselves are always pure, and that impurity can exist only in the human mind. This view, however, though true in a certain sense, does not from the ordinary viewpoint express the whole truth; and the reason why is evident when we realize that it would be impossible for a mind to conceive of impurity that was living in a world where all things were always pure. <br /><br />This same view has led many to the conclusion that if you are pure in motive, or mean well, you can do what you like; your action will be pure and right and good. In other words, so long as you think the action is pure it will be a pure action, regardless of what the moral code may decide in the matter; but such a conclusion can come only from a mind that does not understand the real meaning or the real purpose of purity. <br /><br />When we know what purity means, we know that every thought or action that does not conform to the law of purity will be impure, no matter whether we think it pure or not. Our influence cannot make a natural cause modify its natural effect, and our thoughts cannot change the inevitable action of law. It is only superficial thinkers who believe that every action will be pure if we think it is pure, and that they can accordingly do as they please. <br /><br />However, the power of thought is immense, and in the last analysis constitutes the cause of every condition that appears in the personal being of man. Nevertheless will any line of thinking be pure simply because you think it is pure? That is the question; and it is a question that the majority have neglected to consider. <br /><br />When we say that thought is the cause and the only cause of whatever transpires in the personal man, we refer to the thought of the heart; that is, subjective thought action. Mere objective opinion cannot be cause, and has no effect whatever upon the forces of mind or body, nor does it affect circumstances or things in the least. You may think objectively that a certain action is pure, and at the same time there may be impure subjective mental states in your mind that are causing that very action to be impure. <br /><br />In other words, if there are impure subjective states in your mind, the actions coming from those states will be impure, no matter how much you may objectively think and affirm that those actions are pure. As long as there are impure states in the within, there will be impure actions in the without, and your objective thought, or opinion, or belief about the matter will count for naught. This should be clear to everybody, and those who see it clearly will realize that a great deal of the thought that passes as profound metaphysics today is nothing but illusion; in brief, foundationless ideas that have sprung from minds that could not see the difference between objective opinion and subjective causation. <br /><br />It is subjective causation that determines whether things are to be pure in your world or not. What you think of the matter in your outer mind will have nothing to do with it. True, you can so direct your objective thinking that it will gradually change subjective causation, but to do this your objective thinking must be according to mental laws, and not according to opinions. <br /><br />The statement, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," might read, "Everything in the mind, body or environment of any man is the direct or indirect result of the subjective causations that are active in the being of that man." This being true, whatever change we wish to produce anywhere in life, the desired change must first be made in the causations within the subjective mind. There are many minds that change their opinions, only permitting subjective causes to remain unchanged, and then wonder why everything in their lives continues in the same way as before. <br /><br />Most of these changes that are made in the objective opinions are not made according to the psychological laws, but according to the passing views that come from the various sources in the without. If you have changed your thought, but find no change for the better in your life, you may know that it is only your outer thought, your objective opinions, that you have changed; the subjective causes remain unchanged. <br /><br />Whenever your subjective or subconscious mind is changed, there will be a corresponding change in your life, no matter how that subjective change was brought about, whether it came from old fashioned conversion, modern metaphysics, esoteric experiences, or profound scientific thought. But in this connection we must bear in mind that subjective changes, though coming in many ways, can be permanent only when we fully understand the laws of mental change and act accordingly. <br /><br />This is why so few systems have fully satisfied, why nearly all of them have developed one-sidedness in their disciples, and why they have, in nearly every instance, become creed-bound. The full understanding of life is lacking in nearly all such systems of thought, because that full understanding is not sought. Nevertheless, they all possess a power for good, having the power of changing for the better subjective causations in one or more places. <br /><br />To find the great laws through which subjective causations may be changed as we desire, it becomes necessary to learn what is really meant by the statement, "To the pure all things are pure." Since the statement was made by one of the greatest psychologists in history, it must possess absolute truth when understood from that viewpoint of consciousness from which it was expressed. <br /><br />To find the true meaning of that statement is not difficult, however, when we realize that purity means to be in the proper place, and that impurity means to be out of place. In the last analysis, elements, forces and substances are not impure, but impure conditions may be formed amongst them when something transpires to cause those elements to be misplaced. <br /><br />Since all impurity comes directly from the misplacement of things that are in themselves pure, we can readily realize that all things could be pure to those who are pure, because those who are absolutely pure would have the power to cause all things in their lives to be properly placed. Things would not be pure because those pure minds believed all things to be pure, but because they would naturally, through their superior power, change impurity into purity. When you attain such a complete mastery of yourself that all the elements, forces, functions and activities in your being are always in place, always doing what they are created for, and are never misdirected, you will have the power to properly place everything in your world. <br /><br />Your understanding of purity and the proper placing of things will be so thorough that you will know exactly where everything belongs, and will have the power to place it there. Having become conscious of the true order of things, and being master of the situation, you will be able to establish true order, both in the within and in the without. <br /><br /><br />Having established absolute purity in your subjective mentality through your consciousness of absolute purity, everything that enters your system will naturally become pure at once, though it might have been impure before coming in contact with your life. Everything becomes warm when it enters a warm room, provided the heat is sufficient to overcome all opposite conditions; that is, when the heat in any place is absolute heat, everything that comes into that place will become warmth, no matter what it was before. <br /><br />In the same way, when the purity in any place is absolute purity, everything that enters that place will also become pure. In other words, when everything is properly placed in a certain place and held in place by an irresistible power, everything that enters that place will also properly place itself. Negative conditions are powerless when in the presence of such positive conditions as are completely positive; and disorder cannot possibly exist in the midst of order when that order is complete. <br /><br />When we realize the transmuting power of positive forces, we shall soon understand the full truth of these statements. It is a well-known fact that a strong personality naturally appropriates and makes a part of himself any force that he may come in contact with, provided that force is not as strong as the predominating positive force in himself, and he naturally transforms that force so that it becomes similar, both in quality and action, to the predominating states of his being. <br /><br />A personality that is in perfect harmony, and that continues in harmony, becomes stronger and stronger, even when passing through conditions of extreme discord. The forces of discord are transformed as they come in contact with the system of a strong, well-poised personality, and become harmonious forces which he can appropriate and use. He meets the enemy, so to speak, and makes it his own. In like manner, the mind that remains unshaken in his convictions increases in power, influence and supremacy the more opposition he encounters. <br /><br />It is the mind that falls down in the midst of opposition that fails utterly, while the mind that remains untouched and undisturbed becomes a giant; he not only retains his own power, but adds to his own the power of the losing opposition. Consequently, when the subjective states are properly placed, in harmony, in order, and in absolute purity, and you hold all those subjective states in absolute purity, the force of purity in your system will be so strong and so positive that it cannot be disturbed or changed by anything. <br /><br />Whatever may enter your system while it is in this condition will become pure, no matter what it was before. The most impure elements and conditions will crumble into atoms in the presence of a force of purity that remains unshaken, and then reassemble again in a new compound, substance or condition that is absolutely pure. Whatever comes into your system, therefore, or into your world, will be transformed into purity at the very door, provided you continue in the consciousness of absolute and irresistible purity. <br /><br />Upon the arch, above the entrance to the mansion of your life, you may safely write: "Whatever enters here leaves impurity behind." The demon becomes an archangel the very moment he passes through your door, metaphorically speaking, and the poison becomes a nourishing food the very moment it enters your system. <br /><br />The wrong thoughts and hatreds, and the ill-will that may come to you from minds that do not understand you, will be transformed at once into valuable energies that you may use to develop yourself or build up your health, strength and power. <br /><br />Those who do not accept this extreme conclusion, and it is certainly extreme, should suspend their judgment until they have examined those laws in nature that govern transformation and transmutation in the realms of nature. When we experiment in the chemical world, we can readily demonstrate that one force can entirely transform another force and make it a part of itself, provided the ruling force remains unshaken while the new combination is being made; and when we look into the human world we find innumerable illustrations to prove how an undisturbed mind, a mind forever standing firm upon his convictions, finally sweeps everything before him; but it remains for the new psychology to reveal the real secret back of these phenomena. <br /><br /><br />It has also been demonstrated through recent experiments that a positive mental force can, by remaining positive, transform every negative force or condition that may come into the same sphere of action; and when we know that all phases of impurity are negative conditions, perpetuating themselves simply through the indifference or the inactivity of the positive forces about them, we understand clearly the real truth that is back of the whole matter. <br /><br />Then it becomes clear to any mind that the pure can cause all things to become pure, and that in the world of him who is pure, everything else will naturally tend to become pure. It could not be otherwise. He is the master when he chooses to be; and there is no greater mind than the pure mind. We conclude, therefore, that in this sense the statement is true, "To the pure all things are pure," because, in the life of the pure, impurity is at once transformed into purity. <br /><br />Looking at the subject from a still higher viewpoint, we find that the pure mind enters that state of consciousness where everything is discerned in its original nature, and in that state everything is in place; that is, everything is right and in perfect order. In other words, the pure mind, having become conscious of absolute purity, can see all things as they are in that original state, or before they became misplaced, or misdirected by ignorant minds. <br /><br /><br />The pure mind naturally dwells in that sublime state, therefore to such a mind all things are pure, not because he simply thinks so, but because in that higher field of consciousness all things are properly placed; that is, in the realm of pure reality, everything is pure, and right, and good. By becoming pure, he has entered that loftier realm where everything is pure, and consequently he sees everything as such. <br /><br />Every thorough student of life will eventually learn that there is an inner world back of the exterior, phenomenal side of things. It is the cosmic realm, and this realm, being beyond the interference of the human mind, understanding always remains pure. To enter this realm is to see everything as it is in a pure state of being, as in this realm everything is forever in its pure state; but no mind can enter this inner state and discern cosmic life until purity is attained, both in physical and in mental action. The disturbed, misplaced mind can discern only the discord on the surface, while the calm, serene, absolutely pure mind gravitates naturally to its own higher plane and enters the consciousness of that state of existence where everything is absolutely pure. <br /><br />To train one's self to consciously dwell in that world within, beyond the turmoil of the personal man, is of the highest importance, not only to the health of the body, but also to the development of all the higher qualities latent within. It is ideal living; and it is not simply imagination; it is profoundly real and indescribably beautiful. <br /><br /><br />Back of the disturbed surface of life there is a pure, calm, beautiful state of being, as tangible and as real as reality itself. It is the kingdom within, and the source of all the unbounded possibilities in man. When one becomes pure, he enters that pure world; therefore "to the pure all things are pure"; because when one becomes pure he enters a state of being where everything is pure, always was, and always will be. <br /><br />In perfect health there is always purity, and in absolute purity there is always perfect health. Disease can thrive only in the impure, and the impure always tends to produce disease. Therefore, one of the royal paths to health is to be absolutely pure in all things and at all times; that is, to be pure in body, in mind, in thought, in feeling and desire. <br /><br />There is strength in purity, because in purity there is no waste of life; and in strength there is wholeness and health. The clean body becomes vigorous and virile. The clean mind becomes able, forceful and brilliant; and clean thoughts, feelings and desires invariably lead to greater and better things. Purity means life in abundance, and when life is abundant all the good things of life are invariably added.Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-79971808955502074872010-06-18T02:31:00.000-07:002010-06-18T03:34:32.726-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 147<div align="justify">Nirasraya – She who does not need support</div><div align="justify"><strong>soundarya lahiri</strong> describes her thus:</div><div align="justify"><strong>"Shivah shakthya yukto yadi bhavati shaktah prabhavitum</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Na chedevam devo na khalu kusalah spanditumapi;</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Atas tvam aradhyam Hari-Hara-Virinchadibhir api</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Pranantum stotum vaa katham akrta-punyah prabhavati"</strong></div><div align="justify">Lord Shiva, only becomes able.To do creation in this world along with Shakthi</div><div align="justify">Without her, Even an inch he cannot move,</div><div align="justify">And so how can, one who does not do good deeds,</div><div align="justify">Or one who does not sing your praise,Become adequate to worship you</div><div align="justify">Oh , goddess mine, Who is worshipped by the trinity.</div><div align="justify">Even Lord shiva is inactive without sakthi so how can we say that sakthi needs support?</div><div align="justify">A famous author after her analysis on sakthi and her energy wrote thus:</div><div align="justify">Sakti [shakti] means “power”; in Hindu philosophy and theology sakti is understood to be the active dimension of the godhead, the divine power that underlies the godhead’s ability to create the world and to display itself. Within the totality of the godhead, sakti is the complementary pole of the divine tendency toward quiescence and stillness. It is quite common, furthermore, to identify sakti with a female being, a goddess, and to identify the other pole with her male consort. The two poles are usually understood to be interdependent and to have relatively equal status in terms of the divine economy (David R. Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition [Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986], 133).The term shakti refers to multiple ideas. Its general definition is dynamic energy that is responsible for creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe. It is identified as female energy because shakti is responsible for creation, as mothers are responsible for birth. Without shakti, nothing in this universe would happen; she stimulates siva, which is passive energy in the form of consciousness, to create. Ardhanarishvara, a Hindu deity who is half male and half female, is an iconic representation of this idea. The deity is equally male and female, illustrating that the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe is dependent on both forces.Shakti also refers to the manifestations of this energy, namely goddesses. Some goddesses embody the destructive aspects of shakti, such as death, degeneration, and illness, while other goddesses embody the creative and auspicious powers of shakti, such as nature, the elements, music, art, dance, and prosperity. Shakti may be personified as the gentle and benevolent Uma, consort of Shiva, or Kali, the terrifying force destroying evil, or Durga, the warrior who conquers forces that threaten the stability of the universe. Goddess worshippers often view their deity as the all-powerful Supreme Being, second not even to a male god. There are enduring goddess traditions all over India, especially in West Bengal and south India. Goddesses symbolizing various aspects of power very often predominate in village culture. Village men, women, and children, when they pray for immediate needs, address a female, not a male. David Kinsley writes:<br />Texts or contexts exalting the Mahadevi [Great Goddess], however, usually affirm sakti to be a power, or the power, underlying ultimate reality, or to be ultimate reality itself. Instead of being understood as one of two poles or as one dimension of a bipolar conception of the divine, sakti as it applies to the Mahadevi is often identified with the essence of reality.</div><div align="justify">According to Devi Bhagavata, the lord of the ganas, Citrakarma creates the image of a man out of the burnt ashes of Love; the Love god Manmatha who tried to distract Shiva from meditation and got burnt by the power of agni (fire) from the third eye of Shiva. Shiva names the new image, Bhanda or Panda, teaches him a powerful mantra and gives him the boon of being one and a half times as strong as his enemy, and empowering him as ruler for sixty thousand years. By the power of this mantra, one could gain half the might of one's adversary. Unfortunately, because he was generated from the ashes of Shiva's wrath he is transformed into a fierce demon. Intoxicated with his new found power he proceeded to rampage the kingdom of the gods. Apprehending defeat and humiliation, there is nothing that any of the gods can do during the sixty thousand years when Siva is protecting Bhanda, but once this time has gone by, the gods try to find a way to destroy him and protect all the Celestials from the atrocities of a demon. </div><div align="justify">The Devas in disguise of a parrot image together with the holy Trinity, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, summon the Divine Mother Adi Parashakti, Sri Lalita Ambika, in the form of Kamatchi. Legend has it that Kamatchi appeared in her ethereal form in a pit or cave (Bilakasa Swarupa) to save the Devas from Asuras agrees to stop Bhanda's efforts to overtake the city of the gods and destroy him.<br />The battle starts and gods rejoice in Kamatchi's growing success and worship her. Nonetheless, Bhanda is still alive and empowered. Sri Kamatchi Devi agrees to bless all of those worshiping her with progeny, fame, and virtue, among other things. As the city is being attacked by Bhanda, Kamatchi in the form of Parvati marries Lord Shiva, forming a strong allied army. At the same time, Kamatchi proclaims her independence while honoring her independence. Years go by and Kamatchi leaves her Consort to lead the army against Bhanda.<br />Bhanda does not regard an army of women as a serious threat, and laughs that Kamatchi is as soft and delicate as the flower. To Bhanda's dismay and the gods' delight, Kamatchi's army is very powerful. She is supported by strong women who work together to create unique weapons, particularly the noose and goad (which Lalita's icon often hold) in order to be successful. One after another, Bhanda's generals are defeated. Kamatchi creates new gods to fight as the battle rages on, including Lord Ganesa, and he destroys many armies and Bhanda's brother. As a reward, Kamatchi grants him the right to be worshipped before all other gods. The battle rages on, all of Bhanda's family is killed, and finally he tries to save himself by creating powerful missiles to destroy Kamatchi. She is too powerful for him and sends Durga after him. Finally, it is a showdown between Bhanda and Kamatchi. She kills him using the kamesvara missile, which has an incredibly bright splendor. The deity's praise Kamatchi for her courage and success. She agrees to bring back the god of Love, Manmatha and reunites him with his grateful wife Rathi Devi.<br />This myth shows how Kamatchi is the two forms of human nature simultaneously. She is able to be devoted to her Consort Siva, but to maintain the independence she needs to lead her army to war. She is fierce in her battles, but her most powerful weapons and warriors are created from her laugh and jubilance. Kamatchi shows people the way to deal with problems in their everyday lives. Her being is not an example for those who intend to lead an isolated life. Kamatchi shows how to live in balance, for people with numerous responsibilities. She demonstrates that it is possible to honor the family and other responsibilities, without disappointing anyone. </div><div align="justify">All I can say in the words of Abirami Bhattar is:</div><div align="justify"><strong>"பயிரவி, பஞ்சமி, பாசாங்குசை, பஞ்ச பாணி, வஞ்சர்</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>உயிர் ஆவி உண்ணும் உயர் சந்தி, காலி, ஒளிரும் கலா</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>வயிரவி, மண்டலி, மாலினி, சூலி, வராகி - என்றே</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>செயிர் ஆவி நான்மறை சேர் திருன்னாமங்கள் செப்புவரே!"</strong></div><div align="justify">Bhairavi, Panchami, Pasangusa,Panchabani</div><div align="justify">Kali, Mandali, Malini, Sooli, Varahi,</div><div align="justify">Chandi who takes the life of bad ones,And greatly glittering Vairavi,</div><div align="justify">All these names the four Vedas,Tell thine devotees to chant.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-58974559991218566912010-06-10T10:12:00.000-07:002010-06-11T04:10:51.745-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 146<div align="justify">Nishprapancha – She who is beyond this world</div><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Om sarve ve deva devi upatasthuh kasi twam mahadeviti.<br />Sabraveeta -aham braham swaroopini. </strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Mattah prakriti purushatmakam jagat. </strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Shoonyam cha ashoonyam cha.</strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong>Aham ananda-anando. </strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Aham vigyana-vigyane. </strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Aham brahma - brahmani veditavye. </strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Aham Panchbhutani apanchbhutani. </strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Aham akhilam jagata. - DEVI ATHARVA SHEERSHAM</strong></div><br /><div align="justify">Amen, all Gods asked the Goddess "O Mahadevi (Great Goddess) who are you?" She answered thus,<br />I am of the form of Brahma. The world made of Prakrati and purusha has emanated from me. I am the shunya (nothingness) and beyond the shunya.<br />I am joy and beyond the joy. I am knowledge and beyond the knowledge. I am the Brahman that everyone should Know and also the illusion. I am the world made of five elements and also beyond the world. I am this entire visible world.</div><br /><div align="justify">To explain this let me give you an incident from the devi Mahatmyam.</div><br /><div align="justify">The aboriginal Kolas were the enemies of king Suratha, who sustained a defeat at the hands of a smaller army of Kolas and retreated to his own city and country. Knowing the weakness of the vulnerable king, the ministers robbed him blind and nearly emptied the treasury. The military machine, humiliated by the Kolas, dissipated from high attrition. The king decided to take some time for reflection away from the cauldron of conspiracy, deceit and danger and announced that he was leaving for a long overdue hunt. In the forest, he came across intellectually gifted sage, Medhas living in a hermitage among peace-loving wild animals. Yet thoughts of kingdom, his royal elephant, treasury, evil servants and ministers continued to roil his mind. He was particularly distressed to know of the squandering by the ministers of carefully accumulated wealth.<br />He saw a visitor to the hermitage paying respects to the Brahmana sage. He appeared equally distressed, burdened and afflicted with grief and depression. He talked to him in a kindly manner and felt a sense of empathy and brotherhood. The visitor poured out his story of woe and no weal as follows. "My name is SamAdhi belonging to a merchant class. My sons and and my wife ejected me out of my my own house. Their greed and spendthrift ways depleted my wealth, without which my value and worth to my family suffered. Here I am not knowing the welfare of my sons and my wife."<br />The king wondered aloud, " How is it that you bear such love, concern, and affection to the very wife and children who squandered your wealth and threw you out of your own house?"<br />The merchant replied to the king, "That very thought occurred to me many times. I don't have a steely mind and resolve. I love them though they hurt me. How is it, O king, that I love this worthless family? I am abandoned, feel depressed and dejected. How could I steel my mind against the ingrates?<br />Both of them together came to Medhas, paid obeisance and showed reverence. After some conversation on unrelated subjects, the king said to the sage, "O Sage, I have some questions for you and earnestly wish that you offer some advice and provide answers. My sorrow is beyond control of rational thinking. I lost my kingdom; I lost my wealth; I still cannot get the kingdom out of mind. I know I am an ignoramus. Take this merchant. His wife and children abandoned him after squandering his wealth and yet he loves them. Both the merchant and I, unhappy at our lot, are in love with people not worthy of our love. How could such a paradox exist? What kind of a delusion are we suffering from? We lost our power of discrimination (the power to separate the Real from the unreal). "<br />The learned Rishi showed every sign of deep interest in their plight. He said, " Knowledge comes from senses. The senses of animals and human beings are similar in many ways. Eating, sleeping, procreation, fear, fight or flight are some of the common traits. Take the birds. A mother bird knows it is hungry and yet keeps on dropping the grains into the open beaks of the ravenous chicks. It has the knowledge and yet is full of delusion. Human being are no different from birds. Their attachment to and longing for their children and wife are replete with expectations of reciprocity of similar feelings from them. Mahamaya is the cause of such delusion, the world and attachment. Look no further. Mahamaya is Yoganidra of Vishnu (The power of Vishnu is always of female connotation; her other name is Bhagavati.) It is she who deludes this world. (There is a reason why she gave us this delusion. Our soul is covered with impurities. The embodied soul takes birth in this world to attend the school of hard knocks, so that the impurities ripen and fall off resulting in a pristine soul, acceptance by the Mother Goddess, and liberation.) Mahamaya has the power to force even the most sagacious one into a world of delusion. She is creatrix of this world of the mobile and the immobile. She is also the liberator from the world of delusion, by giving boons and Moksa. She is eternal with no beginning, middle or end; She is the Supreme Knowledge; She is the architect of the transmigration of the soul in this world of Samsara; She is Sarveshvareshvari (the Empress of all, Saraveshvari = the Goddess of all, Empress of all)."<br />The king said to the sage, O Your reverence, Who is Mahamaya? How did she come into existence? What does she do? What are her nature and form? Where did he come from? We want to know all this from you, O the best among the knowers of Brahman.<br />The Rishi replied to the king and the merchant as follows. "She is the polar opposite of temporality; She is eternal in its true sense; She is the Universe, which She pervades through and through. She takes incarnation in this world on behalf of the Devas. The universe becomes one ocean at the end of a Kalpa (aeon); Vishnu goes into Yoganidra on serpent Sesha; at this inopportune time of suspended animation, two Asuras (the enemies of Suras, gods) crawl out of the cerumen (earwax) of Vishnu's ears. As they emerged from the dark recess of the ears, the first being they saw was god Brahma sitting imperially and yet of sheepishly meek disposition, on the lotus flower balanced on a stalk emerging from Vishnu's navel. Brahma, apparently threatened by these demons, saw Vishnu and Yoganidra residing in Vishnu's eyes. (Vishnu goes into cosmic yogic sleep (Yoganidra = meditation sleep) after the deluge on serpent Adisesha. Yoganidra is a personified goddess (a form of Durga), residing in the eyes of Vishnu. Her arrival into Vishnu marks the onset of Yoganidra and her departure awakens Vishnu to start the cycle of creation, preservation and destruction.) Brahma tried very hard to wake up Vishnu but could not budge Yoganidra. He started praying to Yoganidra to take leave of Vishnu, so that he would be rescued from the two demons by awake Vishnu. The prayerful pleading worked; Yoganidra, the empress of the cosmos, the supporter of the worlds, the preserver and destroyer of the universe, packed up and left;You bear this world, You created this world, You protect this world, You destroy this world. You are Mahavidya (Great Knowledge), Mahamaya (Great Illusion), Mahamedha (Great Intelligence and wisdom), Mahasmriti (Great Memory), MahAdevi (Great goddess), Mahesvari (Great Goddess). Some texts says she is MahAsuri (Great demoness).<br />You are the origin of everything to which You applied the three qualities of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas--GunatrayavibhAvinI. You are the KAlarAtri, the dark night of dissolution. You are MahArAtri, the Great Night of Final dissolution. You are MoharAtri, Night of delusion. You are endowed with auspicious qualities (good fortune, all signs of intelligence and knowledge, bashfulness, sustenance, contentment, Shanti (peace and tranquility), forbearance). You are Khadgini (wielder of the sword), ShUlini (Trident Wielder), GhOrA Gadini (Wielder of vlub), Chakrini (wielder of Discus), Shankini (holder of Conch), and wielder of bows and arrows, slings, and mace. You are terrible and yet beautiful and pleasing. You are Paramesvari, Supreme Master and Lord. </div><br /><div align="justify">There are three stages of transformation described in the three sections of the Devi-Mahatmya. The first one is where Adi-Sakti awakes Maha-Vishnu who was asleep, so that He may destroy or overcome the original demoniacal forces, Madhu and Kaitabha. The second stage is where the same Sakti manifests Herself as Maha-Lakshmi and overcomes Mahishasura and Raktabija. The third one is where Sumbha and Nisumbha are destroyed by Maha-Sarasvati. And the nine days of worship comprehend these three stages adored in three days of worship, each. The final victory is called Vijaya-Dasami, the tenth day, as you know. That is the day of Victory, where you master the forces of Nature completely and your goal is reached. When you step over nine, you enter into Infinity. Numbers are only nine, you do not have ten numbers. All the arithmatic is within nine numbers only. The whole cosmos is within nine. But when you transcend the nine, you have gone to Infinity, which is beyond cosmic relationship. The lower powers of Nature are like dirt. We call them Mala, 'Vishnukarna-Malodbhuto Hantum Brahmanamudyato', says the Devi-Mahatmya. The Madhu and Kaitabha, two Rakshasas (demons) are supposed to have come out of the dirt of the ear of Vishnu. The lowest category of opposition is of the nature of dirt, Mala; and psychologically, from the point of view of the seeking soul, this dirt is in the form of Kama, Krodha and Lobha. 'Kama Esha Krodha Esha Rajo-guna Samudbhavah,' 'Kamah Krodhastatha Lobhah Tasmat Etat Trayam Tyajet'--It is desire and anger born of Rajas; desire, anger and greed, these three therefore should be abandoned,--says the Bhagavadgita. These three are the gates to hell. These three are regarded as dirt, because they cover the consciousness in such a way that it appears to be not there at all. It is like painting a thin glass with coal-tar. You cannot see the glass. It is all pitch-dark like clouds. This has to be rubbed off with great effort. When this Mala or dirt is removed, we get into another trouble. Do not think that when you are tentatively a master of Kama, Krodha and Lobha, you are a real master of yourself. "There are more things in heaven and earth than your philosophy dreams of, O Horatio," said Hamlet. So do not think that your philosophy is exhaustive. There are many more things that philosophy cannot comprehend. Kama, Krodha and Lobha are not the only enemies. There are subtler ones, more formidable than these visible foes. As a matter of fact, the subtle invisible enemies are more difficult to overcome than the visible ones. Sometimes you know, an angry man is better than a smiling person. Smiling person is more dangerous than the angry one, because he can have a knife under his arm-pit. This is what we will face. When we manage somehow to overcome this Madhu and Kaitabha, Kama and Krodha, we get into the clutches of Mahishasura and Raktabija. They represent the Vikhepa Sakti, the tossing of the mind. Every minute the mind changes its forms which multiply in millions. You read in the Devi-Mahatmya, how Mahishasura changed his form. Now he is an elephant, now he is a buffalo, now he is something else. If you hit him in one form, he comes in another form. And this is your inexhaustible opponent. His energies are incapable of being exhausted. However much you may try to oppose the Vikshepa Sakti, it will manifest in some form or other. This is described in the form of the demon Raktabija, whose drops of blood were seeds of hundreds and thousands of demons like himself coming up. When the Devi severed the head of one Rakshasa, the blood fell on the ground profusely and from that blood, millions cropped up. And when She killed them, again another million cropped up. So there was no end for it. If you cut off one or two desires, the desire is not over. The root is still there. The branches are only severed. Unless the root is dug out, there is no use of merely severing the branches of the tree. So what did the Devi do? She asked Kali to spread her tongue throughout the earth, so that there is no ground at all for the Rakshasas to walk over. They had to walk over the tongue of Kali. So huge it was. And now the Goddess started cutting their heads and when the blood fell, it fell not on the ground but on the tongue of Kali. So she sucked everything. Chariots and horses and demons and everybody entered her mouth. She chewed all chariots into powder. So likewise, we have to adopt a technique of sucking the very root of desires and not merely chop off its branches. Otherwise, desires will take various forms like Mahishasura. When we think that Mahishasura has been killed, he comes as a buffalo and when the buffalo is attacked, he again comes as an elephant, and if Devi attacks the elephant, he comes as a bull and attacks Her. So, there is no way of overcoming these desires by merely dealing with them from outside by a frontal attack. Their very essence has to be sucked. Because, a desire is not an outward form or an action, it is a tendency within. You may do nothing, and yet you will have desires. Because, desire is not necessarily an activity. A desireful person need not be very active. He can be sitting quiet, doing nothing, saying nothing, and yet be full of desires. Because, it is a tendency of the mind, an inclination of consciousness, that we call a desire. That can be inside, even if there is outwardly nothing. This is the Vikshepa Sakti,--distraction, tossing and the chameleon-attitude of desire,--which attacks us, when, with Herculean efforts, we try to destroy or gain control over Kama and Krodha, Madhu and Kaitabha. After Madhu and Kaitabha, we get Mahishasura and Raktabija. Thus Mala and Vikshepa are the primary oppositions in our spiritual pursuit.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Ancient masters have told us that while Mala or dirt of the psychological structure can be removed by Karma Yoga, by unselfish and dedicated service, Vikshepa or distraction of the mind can be removed only by worship of God, by Upasana. While Karma removes Mala, Upasana removes Vikshepa. But even now, we are not fully safe. While Mala might have gone and Vikshepa is not there, we may have a third trouble, namely, a complete oblivion of consciousness. We will have no knowledge of anything as to what is happening. Ajnana or Ignorance is a subtler opposing power than its effects in the form of Mala and Vikshepa. Distraction and direct sensual desires are the outer expressions of a subtle ignorance of Truth, Avidya or Ajnana. Why do we desire things? Because, we do not know the nature of Truth. Why does a strong wind blow? Because, the sun is covered over with clouds. The sun is covered by the clouds first, then there is darkness and then a gale, cyclone starts blowing from the north, breaking your umbrellas and uprooting trees. All these happen because the sun does not shine. Even so, when the Atman is covered over by ignorance of its nature, the winds of desire begin to blow, and they come like violent storms. Impetuous is the force of desire. You cannot stand against it, because the whole of Nature gets concentrated in a desire. That is why it is impetuous and uncontrollable. All the powers of Nature get focussed in a desire when it manifests itself, whatever be that desire. So the whole of Nature has to be subdued. You are not to subdue only your individual nature, but the cosmic Nature itself is to be subdued. This is what is depicted in the Epic of the Devi-Mahatmya. It is the subdual, overcoming, transformation of the cosmic Nature in the form of Tamas, Rajas and Sattva. While Mala represents Tamas, Vikshepa represents Rajas.<br />Now, Sattva is also a Guna, unfortunately. We always praise Sattva and regard it as a very desirable thing. But it is like a transparent glass that is placed between us and the Truth. You can see through it, but you cannot go beyond it. Because, though the glass is transparent, it can obstruct your movement. It is not like a brick-wall, completely preventing your vision, as Tamas does; it is not like a blowing wind which simply tosses you here and there, as Rajas does; it is a plain glass, through which you can have vision of Reality, but you cannot contact Reality nevertheless. How can you contact a thing when there is a glass between you and the thing? Yet you can see it. So they say even Sattva is an obstacle, though it is better than the other two forces, in the sense that through it you can have a vision or an insight into the nature of Reality which transcends even Sattva. There is a glass pane and you can see a mango fruit on the other side of it. You can see it very well, but cannot get it, you cannot grab it. You know the reason. Even Sattva is a subtle medium of obstruction, which acts in a double form; as complacency or satisfaction with what has been achieved, and an ignorance of what is beyond. These two aspects of Sattva are indicated by the two personalities of Sumbha and Nisumbha. They have to be dispelled by the power of higher wisdom, which is Maha-Sarasvati.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">So, through the worship of Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi, and Maha-Sarasvati, we worship Mula-Prakriti, Adi-Sakti in her cosmic dance-form of transformation, prosperity and Illumination. In the beginning, what happens to a Sadhaka? There is a necessity of self-transformation. It is all hardship, rubbing and cleaning, washing, sweeping, etc. That is the first stage through the worship of Maha-Kali, who brings about a destruction of all barriers. Then what happens? There is tremendous prosperity. You become a master and a progressive soul commanding all powers, getting everything that you want. This is the second stage. In the first stage, it looked as if you were a poor person, having nothing, very weak. But, when you overcome this weakness, by removing the barrier of Tamas, you become prosperous. Nobody can be as rich as a Yogi, you know. He can command all the powers. By a thought he can invoke all things, and this is Goddess Maha-Lakshmi working. When Maha-Kali has finished her work of destruction of opposition, Maha-Lakshmi comes as prosperity. A great Yogi is also like a royal personality, because of his internal invocations, though unconsciously done, of cosmic powers. When prosperity dawns, it looks as if the whole universe is a heaven. In the first stage, it looked like a hell. Afterwards, in the second stage, it looks like a heaven, when Maha-Lakshmi begins to work. But this also is not sufficient. Knowledge should dawn. It is not heaven that you are asking for. You want the realisation of Truth. Sarasvati will come for help and a flood of light on Truth will be thrown and you will see things as they are. There is no enjoyment, prosperity, richness, wealth or any such thing. It is Truth unconnected with yourself in the beginning, but later on inseparable from yourself. Thus, from opposition to prosperity, from prosperity to enlightenment, and from enlightenment to Self-realisation do we proceed. So, these are the truths esoterically conveyed to us in the Mantras of the Devi-Mahatmya.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-39016662273301754522010-06-02T02:27:00.000-07:002010-06-04T03:23:28.029-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 145<div align="justify">145 Nirvikara – She never undergoes alteration</div><div align="justify">Devi is the beginning and she is the end who can look at her and say she change,she is the concept of change.Like all of us brahma tried his best to find out more about devi and he ended up in total surrender. Let us see what he has to say in devi bhagavatam about devi.</div><div align="justify">Brahmâ said :-- “O Devî! I have come to understand on the authority of all the words of the Vedas, that Thou art the only One Cause of this Universal Brahmânda. The more so when Thou hast brought the best Purusa Visnu, endowed with discrimination above all beings, under the control of sleep, then the above remark is self-evident.<br /> O Thou, the Player in the minds of all beings! O Mother! I am extremely ignorant of the knowledge of Thy nature; The Sânkhya philosophers say (that the Purusa (the male aspect of S’akti)is the pure, conscious being and that Thou art the Prakriti, without any consciousness, material inert, Creatrix of the universe; but, O Mother! art Thou really inert like that? Never like that; had it been like that, O Bhavâni! Thou, being beyond the Gunas art displaying like a dramatic performance these various dramatic plays by the conjunction with the three Gunas. It is Thy three qualities, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas that the Munis meditate every day in the morning mid-day, and evening, the three Sandhyâs; but no one is aware of Thy ways of doings. O Devî! Thou art of the nature of the judgment and understanding giving rise to knowledge of all the beings in the Universe; Thou art always the S’ri (wealth and prosperity) giving pleasures to the Devas. O Mother! Thou art reigning in all as Kîrti (fame), mati (intellect), Dhriti (fortitude). Kânti (beauty) S’raddhâ (faith) and Rati (enjoyment). O Mother! Now I am put to great difficulties and therefore I have got eye witness of Thy nature; no need of further reasoning and discussing about it.I have now known that verily, verily Thou art the only Mother of all the worlds O Devî! Now when it is evident that all the worlds, etc., have come from Thee, then the Vedas have also come from Thee; what doubt is there? So the Vedas, too, do not know fully Thy nature; for the effect can never know its cause. So, it is very true that Thou art incomprehensible of the Vedas, O Mother! When I, Hari, Hara and the other Devas and my son Nârada and other Munis have not able to realise Thy nature fully, then who else can be so intelligent in this world that will realise all Thy nature? So Thy glory is beyond the speech of all beings. O Devî! If, in the place of sacrifice, the ritualists, the knowers of the Vedas, do not utter Thy name Svâhâ, then the Devas, participators of the offerings in Yajña, do not get their share, however hundreds of oblations be offered; so Thou art also the giver of sustenance allowances to the Devas. O Bhagavatî! In previous Kalpas, Thou hadst saved me terrified from the fear of the Dânavas. O Devî Varade! now, too, I am terrified at the sight of the terrible forms of Madhu and Kaitabha and take Thy refuge. O Devî! Those that do not know Thy extraordinary powers, those stupid ones meditate Hari, Hara, etc. But, O Mother! By Thy grace, I realise to-day, as eye-witness, that Visnu even is to-day lying unconscious in deep sleep, totally senseless of anything<br />outside by Thy force. O Bhagavatî! O Devî! Verily those are blessed who worship Thy lotus feet with their whole heart full of devotion and without any hope of getting rewards, abandoning the worship of other Devas and knowing Thee as the Creatrix of the whole world and the giver of all desires. Alas! now the intelligence, beauty, fame, and all good qualities have forsaken Hari and fled away to some unknown quarters. O Bhagavatî! Thou art really adorable in the three worlds for, O Mother! Thou art the S’akti of all this universe and endowed with all prowess and energy; all other things are Thy creation. As a dramatic player, though one, plays in the theatre, assuming many forms, so Thou, too, being one, playest always in this charming theatre of world, created by Thy Gunas, in various forms.In this whole Universe, whoever he may be, all are incapable of any action if he be deprived of his force; what more than this, if S’iva be deprived of Kula Kundalinî S’aktî, He becomes a lifeless corpse; O great ascetic Risis! She is present everywere thus in every thing in this universe from the highest Brahmâ to the lowermost blade of grass, all moving and non-moving things. Verily everything becomes quite inert, if deprived of force; whether in conquering one's enemies, or in going from one place to another or in eating -- one finds oneself quite incapable, if deprived of force. Thus the omnipresent S’aktî, the wise call by the name of Brahmâ. Those who are verily intelligent should always worship Her in various ways and determine thoroughly the reality of Her by every means. In Visnu there is the Sattviki S’aktî; then He can preserve; otherwise He is quite useless; so in Brahmâ there is Rajasi S’aktî and He creates; otherwise He is quite useless; in S’iva, there is Tamasi S’aktî and He destroys; else He is quite useless. Thus, arguing again and again in one's mind, everyone should come to know that the Highest Âdya S’aktî by Her mere will creates and preserves this Universe and She it is who destroys again in time the whole Brahmânda, moving and non-moving; no one is capable to do his respective work be he Brahmâ, Visnu, Mahes'var, Indra, Fire, Sun, Varuna or any other person whatsoever; verily all the Devas perform the respective actions by the use of this Âdya S’aktî. That She alone is present in cause and effect and is doing every action, an be witnessed vividly. The intelligent ones call that S’aktî twofold; one is Sagunâ and the other is Nirgunâ. The people, attached to the senses and the objects, worship the Sagunâ aspect, and those who are not so attached worship the Nirguna aspect. That conscious S’aktî is the Lady of the fourfold aims of life, religion, wealth, desires, and liberation. When She is worshipped according to due rules, She awards all sorts of desires. The worldly persons, charmed by the Mâyâ of this world, do not know Her at all; some persons know a little and charm others; whereas some stupid and dull-deaded Pundits, impelled by Kali, start sects of heretics, Pâsandas for the sustenance of their own bellies. In no other Yugas were found acts as prevalent in this Kali Yuga, based on various different opinions and altogether beyond the pale of the Vedic injunctions. Behold again, if Brahmâ, Visnu and Mahes’a be the supreme Deities, then why do these three Devas meditate on another One beyond speech, beyond mind and practise, for years, hard austerities; and why do they perform Yajñas (sacrifices) for their success in creation, preservation, and destruction? They know, verily, the Highest Supreme Being, Brahmâni Devî S’aktî eternal, constant and therefore they meditate Her always in their minds. Therefore the wise man, knowing this firmly, should serve in every way the Highest S’aktî. This is the settled conclusion of all the Sâstras. I have heard of this great hidden secret from Bhagavân Krisna Dvaipâyan.</div><div align="justify">S’rî Bhagavân said :-- Salutation to the Devî Prakriti, the Creatrix; I bow down again and again to Thee. Thou art all-auspicious and grantest the desires of Thy devotees; Thou art of the nature of Siddhi (success) and Vriddhi (increase). I bow down again and again to Thee. I bow down to the World Mother, Who is of the nature of Everlasting Existence, Intelligence and Bliss. O Devî! Thou createst, preservest and destroyest this Universe; Thou dost the Pralaya (the great Dissolution) and showest favour to the created beings. Thus Thou art the Authoress of the above five fold things that are done; so, O Bhuvanes’varî, I bow down to Thee! Thou art the great efficient and material cause of the changeful. Thou art the Unchangeable, Immoveable Consciousness; Thou art the half letter (Ardhamâtrâ), Hrillekhâ (the consciousness that ever pervades both inside and outside the Universe); Thou art the Supreme Soul and the individual soul. Salutation again and again to Thee.<br /> O Mother! I now realise fully well that this whole Universe rests on Thee; it rises from Thee and again melts away in Thee. The creation of this Universe shews Thy infinite force. Verily, Thou art become Thyself all these Lokas (regions). During the time of creation Thou createst the two formless elements akâsâ and Vâyu and the three elements with form, fire, water, and earth; then with these Thou createst the whole Universe and shewest this to the Enjoyer Purusa, who is of the nature of consciousness, for His satisfaction. Thou again dost become the material cause of the twentythree (23) Tattvas, Mahat, etc., as enumerated in the Sânkhya system and appearest to us like a mirage.<br /> O Mother! Were it not for Thee, no object would be visible, Thou pervadest the whole Universe. It is for this reason that those persons that are wise declare that even the Highest Purusa can do no work without Thy aid. O Devî! Thou createst and art giving satisfaction to the whole Universe by Thy power; again at the time of Pralaya Thou swallowest forcibly all these that are seen. So, O Devî! Who can fathom Thy powers? O Mother! Thou didst save us from the hands of Madhu and Kaitabha. Then Thou hast brought us to this Mani Dvîpa and shewed us Thy own form, all the extended regions and immense powers and given us exquisite delight and joy. This is the highest place of happiness. O Mother! When I Myself, S'ankara and Brahmâ or any one of us is unable to fathom Thy inconceivable glory, who else can then ascertain? O Bhavânî! Who knows, how many more than the several regions that we saw reflected in thy nails of Thy feet, exist in Thy creation. O One endowed with infinitely great powers! O Devî! we saw another Visnu, another Hara, another Brahmâ, all of great celebrity in the Universe exhibited by Thee; who knows how many other such Brahmâs,etc., exist in Thy other Universes! Thy glory is infinite. O Mother! I bow down again and again to Thy lotus feet and pray to Thee that may Thy this form exist always in my mind. May my mouth always utter Thy name and may my two eyes see always Thy lotus feet. O Revered One! May I remember Thee as my Goddess and may'st Thou constantly look on myself as Thy humble servant. O Mother! What more shall I say than this :-- May this relation as mother and son always exist between Thee and me. O World-Mother! There is nothing in this world that is not known to Thee for Thou art omniscient. So O Bhavânî! What more shall my humble self declare to Thee! Now dost Thou do whatever Thou desirest. O Devî! The rumour goes that Brahmâ is the Creator, Visnu is the Preserver, and Mahes'vara is the Destroyer! Is this true? O Eternal One! It is through Thy Will power, through Thy force, that we create, preserve and destroy. O Daughter of the Himalaya mountain! The earth is supporting this Universe; it is Thy endless might that is holding all this made of five elements. O Grantress of boons! It is through Thy power and lustre that the Sun is lustrous and becomes visible. Though Thou art the attributeless Self, yet by Thy Mâyic power Thou appearest in the form of this Prapancha Universe. When Brahmâ, Mahes'a, and I myself take birth by Thy power and are not eternal, what more can be said of Indra and other Devas than this that they are mere temporary things and created. It is only Thou that art Eternal, Ancient Prakriti and the Mother of this Universe. O Bhavânî! Now I realise from my remaining with Thee, that it is Thou that dost impart, out of mercy, the Brahmâ vidyâ to the ancient Purusa; and thus He can realise His eternal nature. Otherwise He will remain always under delusion that He is the Lord, He is the Purusa without beginning, that He is good and the Universal Soul, and thus suffers under various forms of egoism (Ahamkâra).<br />Thou art the Vidyâ of the intelligent persons and the S’akti of the be­ings endowed with force; Thou art Kîrtî (fame), Kânti (lustre), Kamalâ (wealth) and the spotless Tusti (peace, happiness). Amongst men, Thou art the dispassion, leading to Mukti (complete freedom from bondage). Thou art the Gâyatri, the mother of the Vedas; and Thou art Svahâ, Svadhâ, etc. Thou art the Bhâgavatî, of the nature of the three Gunas; Thou art the half mâtrâ (half the upper stroke of a letter), the fourth state, transcending the Gunas. It is Thou that givest always the S’âstras for the preservation of the Devas and the Brâhmanas. It is Thou that hast expanded and manifested this whole phenomenon of the visible Universe for the liberation of the embodied souls (Jîvas), the parts of the pure holy Brâhman, the Full, the Beginningless, the Deathless, forming the waves of the lnfinite expanse of ocean. When the Jîva comes to know internally and becomes thoroughly conscious that all this is Thy work, Thou createst and destroyest, that all this is Thy Mâyic pastime, false, like the parts of an actor in a theatrical play, then and then only he desists for ever from his part in this Theatre of world. O Mother! O Destroyer of the greatest difficulties! I always take refuge unto Thee. Thou dost save me from this ocean of Samsâra, full of Moha (delusion). Let Thou be my Saviour when my end will come, from these infinitely troublesome and unreal pains arising from love and hatred. Obeisance to Thee! O Devî! O Mahâ vidyâ! I fall prostrate at Thy feet. O Thou, the Giver of all desires! O Auspicious One! Dost Thou give the knowledge that is All-Light to Me.</div><div align="justify">Such is her glory what more can be said about her when we have heard what is required from bhagavan himself. </div><div align="justify">தனம் தரும், கல்வி தரும், ஒருன்னாலும் தளர்வு அறியாமணம் தரும், </div><div align="justify">தெய்வ வடிவும் தரும், நெஞ்சில் வஞ்சம் இல்லைனம் தரும், </div><div align="justify">நல்லன எல்லாம் தரும், அன்பர் என்பவர்க்கே--</div><div align="justify">கணம் தரும் பூங் குழலாள், அபிராமி, கடைக்கண்களே!</div><div align="justify">Riches great, they will get,Knowledge fine they will get,A mind that never tires, they will get,Godly beauty they will get,friends who do not deceive they will get,And all this and more they will get,From the incense filled flower haired Abhirami’s,Slanting sight from her beautiful eyes.<br /> </div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-5315502920314783832010-05-27T02:05:00.000-07:002010-05-27T04:21:05.343-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 144<div align="justify">144 Nithya muktha – She who is forever free of the ties of the world</div><div align="justify">Liberation (Mukthi) can simply be defined as freedom from the material consciousness, resulting in dissolving of the instinctive mind or false ego — death from the bondage, Maya or repeated pain and suffering in a physical body. That is to say, to attain a blessed state of the Jeevanmukta is to overcome mental delusion and recover one's Divine Identity as Pure Consciousness. Hence to attain perfect liberation while living, Realization of the Self needs to be brought through into every aspect of life and every atom of the body.<br />An ordinary mortal or a conditioned soul is continuously stirred up by Maya (illusion, ignorance, false ego, mistaken identity, delusion, etc.) while witnessing his day-to-day life. But a Jeevanmukta observes the play of the life through the prism of the Pure Consciousness — without any desires, emotional attachment, restlessness, prejudices and agitations of the mind. The teachings of the world scriptures are intended to awaken this Pure Consciousness within. This Unconditioned Consciousness is our true nature, which can be awakened by fully roasting the seed of ignorance in the fire of Self-knowledge (Aatam-Gian).</div><div align="justify">The scriptures mention four kinds of Mukti. They are:Saalokya Mukti: When a devotee worships a particular god, he will ultimatelyobtain a place in the heavenly abode of that particular god. This is called as‘Saalokya Mukti’. The method of worship followed here is called as ‘Charya’. Itis a method in which the seeker considers himself a slave and the god as theSupreme Lord.Saaroopya Mukti : A devotee practising even more intense devotion will not onlyobtain a place in the heavenly abode, but will also acquire the qualities of thegod he worships. The method of worship followed here is called as ‘Kriya’. Kriyahere means performing Pooja, Homa and other rituals.Saameepya Mukti: If the worship is even more intense, the seeker will not onlyacquire the qualities of the god he worships, but will also gain a godly formand a place very near to God. This method is called ‘Yoga’. Here Yoga means theeight steps of Ashtanga Yoga.Saayujya Mukti : When the worshiper transcends the Saguna form and reaches theNirguna form, the seeker will realise that Jeevatma and Paramatma are one andthe same. This is called Saayujya Mukti. The instrument to obtain this is‘Jnana’. Jnana means realising the Atma Tattva with the help of Nitya AnityaVastu Viveka.The first three are not important. Although they are referred to as Mukti, thereal meaning of Mukti is not reflected by them because those three kinds ofMukti are not permanent. Also, in each of the three, the Jeevi will be havingsome sort of form. After the merit is exhausted, he will lose the celestial bodyand will again take birth as a mortal.The fourth type of Mukti is different. In this, the Jeevi will not have a bodyand will not have another birth either. Only this should be considered as realMukti.</div><div align="justify">Now that we have understood what is mukthi and the different forms of mukthi, let us take this thought forward and understand what devi tells us and the things we have to do to attain this everlasting peace and happiness.To attain mukthi one has to understand the meaning of the seed mantra. Devi says"The letter "Ha" means gross body and the letter "Ra" means subtle body and the letter "Î" means the causal body; (dot over the semicircle) is the fourth "Turîya" state of Mine. Thus meditating on the separate dillerentiated states, the intelligent man should meditate on the aforesaid three Vîjas in the Cosmic body also and he should then try to establish the identity between the two. Before enteriing into Samâdhi, after very carefully thinking the above, one should close cne's eyes and meditate on Me, the Supreme Diety of the Universe, the Luminous and Self-Ellulgent Brahmâ."Putting a stop to all worldly desires, free from jealousy and other evils, he should (by constant practise of Prânâyâma) make equal according to the rules of Prânâyâma, the Prâna (the inhaled breath) and Apâna (the exhaled breath) Vâyûs and with an unfeigned devotion get the gross body (Vais'vânara) indicated by the letter "Ha" dissolved in the subtle body Taijasa. The Taijasa body, the letter "Ra" is in a cave where there is no noise (in the Susumnâ cave). After that He should dissolve the Taijasa, "Ra" into the Causal body "Î". He should then dissolve the Causal body, the Prâjña "Î" into the Turîya state Hrîm. Then he should go into a region where there is no speech or the thing spoken, which is absolutely free from dualities, that Akhanda Sachchidânanda and meditate on that Highest Self in the midst of the Fiery Flame of Consciousness.". when one follows these steps one can see devi within them and if she is in the vastless space then how can she ever be tied down. She is maya,she is nirguna,she is nirmala.Devi again points out that moksha can be attained by three ways: They are Karma Yoga, Jñâna Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. </div><div align="justify">Let us look into these kinds, to understand why it is connected to mukthi and why devi wants us to follow these.</div><div align="justify">Karma Yoga is consecration of all actions and their fruits unto the Lord. Karma Yoga is performance of actions dwelling in union with the Divine, removing attachment and remaining balanced ever in success and failure.<br />Karma Yoga is selfless service unto humanity. Karma Yoga is the Yoga of action which purifies the heart and prepares the Antahkarana (the heart and the mind) for the reception of Divine Light or attainment if Knowledge of the Self. The important point is that you will have to serve humanity without any attachment or egoism.<br />Action of some kind or the other is unavoidable. You cannot keep quiet without doing anything. What binds you to phenomenal existence or Samsara is not the action but the idea of doership and enjoyership. Karma binds when it is done with a selfish motive, with the expectation of fruits. But when action is done without the expectation of fruits, it is liberating. If you act as an instrument in the hands of the Lord, as a participant in the cosmic activity of Nature, without expectation of fruits, that Karma will not bind you. Karma, then becomes Karma Yoga. Work unselfishly. Feel that you are only an instrument and that the Lord is working through you. Surrender the actions and their fruits to the Lord. You will be freed from the bonds of Karma and enjoy peace.<br />The practice of Karma Yoga prepares the aspirant for the reception of knowledge of the Self. It makes him a proper Adhikari (aspirant) for the study of Vedanta. Ignorant people jump at once to Jnana Yoga, without first having a preliminary training in Karma Yoga. That is the reason why they fail miserably to realize the Truth. Various impurities lurk in the fourfold mind (Antahkarana). The mind is filled with likes and dislikes, jealousy, etc. They only talk of Brahman. They indulge in all sorts of useless controversies, vain debates and dry, endless discussions. Their philosophy is only on their lips. In other words, they are lip-Vedantins. What is really wanted is practical Vedanta through ceaseless, selfless service. Selfless service is the only way to remove the impurities lurking in the mind.<br />Two things are indispensably requisite in the practice of Karma Yoga. The Karma Yogi should have non-attachment to the fruits of actions. He will have to dedicate his actions at the altar of God with the feeling of Ishvararpana. Non-attachment brings freedom from sorrow and fear. Non-attachment makes a man absolutely bold and fearless. When he dedicates his actions at the Lotus Feet of the Lord, he develops devotion to God and approaches Him nearer and nearer. He gradually feels that God works directly through his Indriyas or instruments. He feels no strain or burden in discharge of his works now. He is quite at ease. The heavy load which he felt previously on account of false notion has vanished out of sight now. The practice of Karma Yoga does not demand that you should possess enormous wealth. You can serve with your mind and body. If you find a poor sick man lying on the road side, give him some water or milk to drink. Cheer him up with sweet, encouraging words. Put him in a carriage and take him to the nearest hospital. If you have no money to pay for the carriage, carry the patient on your back and see that he is admitted into the hospital. If you do service like this, your heart will be purified. God is more pleased with such sort of service for the poor helpless people than with the service done by rich people with pomp and vanity.<br />If any one is suffering from acute pain in any part of the body, at once shampoo the affected part very quickly. Feel, when you massage, that you are shampooing the body of the Lord (Virat). Repeat your Ishta Mantra or any name of the Lord while shampooing. Pray also from the bottom of your heart: "O Lord! Remove the pain of this man. Let him rest in peace. Let him possess good health." Feel, when you massage, that the energy from the cosmic source, Hiranyagarbha, is flowing continuously through your hands. The more you give, the more yu will get. You will be in tune with the cosmic energy or the Infinite. This is the divine law. Karma Yogi should be absolutely free from lust, greed, anger and egoism. Even if there are traces of these Doshas, he should try to remove them. He should not expect any kind of fruits for his actions herein and hereafter. He should not have any desire for name and fame, approbation, thirst for applause, admiration and gratitude. He must have a spotless character. He should try to possess this gradually. He should be humble and free from hatred, jealousy, harshness, etc. He should always speak sweet words. How can a proud and jealous man, who expects respect and honour from others, serve others ? He should be absolutely fearless. A timid man is absolutely unfit for Karma Yoga. A Karma Yogi should have large heart. He should be free from crookedness, meanness, miserliness and selfishness. He should be absolutely free from greed, anger and egoism.<br />A Karma Yogi should have an amiable, loving social nature. He should be able to move and mix with everybody without distinction of caste, creed or colour. He should have perfect adaptability, tolerance, sympathy, cosmic love and mercy. He should be able to adjust with the habits and ways of others. He should have an all-embracing and an all-inclusive heart. He should always have a cool and balanced mind. He should have presence of mind also. He should have equal vision. He should rejoice in the welfare of others. A man who is easily irritable and who can easily be offended for trifling things is absolutely unfit for the path of Karma Yoga. He should have all the organs under perfect control. He should lead a very simple life. He should bear insult, disrespect, dishonour, censure, infamy, disgrace, harsh words, heat, cold and the pain of diseases. He should have absolute faith in himself, in God, in scriptures and in the words of hid Guru. If he leads a life of luxury, if he wants everything for himself, how can he share his possessions with others ? He should burn his selfishness to the very root. Let me remind you the words of the Gita: "Restraining and subduing the senses, regarding everything equally, rejoicing in the welfare of all, these alone come to Me." Such a man becomes a good Karma Yogi and reaches the goal quickly. </div><div align="justify">now coming to jyana yoga:</div><div align="justify">As recounted many times in vedantic scriptures such as the Upanishads and the Yoga Vasishta, when the student is ready, liberation, or moksha, can come very quickly. Here is the three-step process that leads to self knowledge:<br />1. The guru explains to the students the teachings of vedanta and what is Brahman. He often uses stories and analogies to make his point. The students listen attentively and this step is called sravanam, which literally means listening.<br />2. The student reflects upon what he or she has heard, cogitates, and tries to really comprehend the subtle truths that have been taught to him or her. This is called mananam, which means reflecting or contemplating.<br />3. The student meditates on the Brahman of the upanishads and this leads to the intuitive, direct experience of Truth. This is called nididhyasana, or meditating.</div><div align="justify">Follow the different forms of bhakthi which I have explained indetail in my other posts which i had quoted from Srimad-Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana like:</div><div align="justify">Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories),<br />Kirtana (singing of His glories),<br />Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence), </div><div align="justify">Padasevana (service of His feet),<br />Archana (worship of God),<br />Vandana (prostration to Lord),<br />Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God),<br />Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and<br />Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self). </div><div align="justify">All these margas lead to the Supreme so by moving towards her one realises like her they also tend to remain in bliss forever.</div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-20600545872150699902010-05-23T23:52:00.001-07:002010-05-23T23:52:03.495-07:00lalitha sahasranamam - 143<a href=http://balambika.podbean.com/2010/05/22/lalitha-sahasranamam-143/>lalitha sahasranamam - 143</a><br /><br />Posted using <a href="http://sharethis.com">ShareThis</a>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-30054560170489172142010-05-21T06:07:00.000-07:002010-05-21T07:50:56.681-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 143<div align="justify">143 Niruppallava – She who is never destroyed</div><div align="justify">When I was contemplating on this statement,I was smiling to myself thinking how foolish I have been to even think of such a statement , after reading the experiences of Shiva ,Vishnu and Brahma in Devi Bhagavatam.It is my pleasure to narrate it as narrated by Brahma to Narada.</div><div align="justify">Brahmâ said :-- Thus speaking, Bhagavân Janârdana Visnu spoke to me again :-- “Come, let us bow down to Her again and again and let us go to Her. We shall reach at Her feet fearlessly and we will chant hymns to Her; Mahâ Mâyâ will be pleased with us and will grant us boons. If the guards at the entrance prevent us from going, we would stand at the gateway and we will chant hymns to the Devî with one mind.”<br /> Brahmâ said :-- When Hari addressed us in the above way, we two became choked by intense feelings of joy; our voice became tremulous and we waited there for some time; our hearts were elated with joy to go to Her. We then accepted Hari's word said “Om” and got down from our car and went with hastened steps and with fear to the gate. Seeing us standing at the gateway, the Devî Bhagâvatî smiled and within an instant transformed us three into females. We looked beautiful and youthful women, adorned with nice ornaments; thus we greatly wondered and went to Her. Seeing us standing at Her feet in feminine forms, the beautiful Devî Bhagâvatî, looked on us with eyes of affection. We then bowed to the great Devî, looked at one another and stood before Her in that feminine dress. We three, then, began to see the pedestal of the great Devî, shining with the lustre of ten million Suns and decorated with various gems and jewels. We next discerned that thousands and thousands of attendants are waiting on Her. Some of them are wearing red dress; some blue dress, some yellow dress; thus the Deva girls, variously dressed were serving Her and standing by Her side. They were dancing, singing on and playing with musical instruments and were gladly chanting hymns in praise of the Devî. O Nârada!We saw there another wonderful thing. Listen. We saw the whole universe, moving and non-moving within the nails of the lotus feet of the Devî. We saw there myself, Visnu, Rudra, Vâyu, Agni, Yama, Moon, Sun, Varuna, Tvastâ, Indra, Kuvera and other Devas, Apsarâs, Gandarbhas, rivers, oceans, mountains, Visvâvasus Chitraketu, Sveta, Chitrângada, Nârada, Tumburu, Hâ Hâ Hû Hû and other Gandarbhas, the twin As'vins, the eight Vasus, Sâdhyas, Siddhas, the Pitris, Ananta and other Nâgas, Kinnaras, Uragas, Râksasas, the abode of Vaikuntha, the abode of Brahmâ, Kailas'a mountain, the best of all mountains; all were existing there. Within that nail of the toe were, reflected all the things of the Universe. The lotus whence I was born, the four faced Brahmâ like myself on that lotus, Bhagavân Jagannâth lying on that bed of Ananta, the two Demons Madhu Kaitabha, all I saw there.Seeing all these wonderful things within the nails of Her lotus feet, I became greatly surprised and thought timidly :-- “What are all these!” My companions Visnu and S'ankara were struck with wonder. We three, then, made out that She was our Mother of the universe.<br /> Thus full one hundred years passed away in seeing the various glories of the Devî in the auspicious nectar-like Mani Dvîpa; as long we were there, Her attendants, the Deva girls adorned with various ornaments gladly considered us as Sakhîs. We, too, were greatly fascinated by their enchanting gestures and postures. For that reason, we saw always their beautiful movements with great gladness. Once, on an occasion, Bhagavân Visnu, while He was in that feminine form, chanted hymns in praise of the great Devî S’rî Bhuvanes`varî.S’rî Bhagavân said :-- Salutation to the Devî Prakriti, the Creatrix; I bow down again and again to Thee. Thou art all-auspicious and grantest the desires of Thy devotees; Thou art of the nature of Siddhi (success) and Vriddhi (increase). I bow down again and again to Thee. I bow down to the World Mother, Who is of the nature of Everlasting Existence, Intelligence and Bliss. O Devî! Thou createst, preservest and destroyest this Universe; Thou dost the Pralaya (the great Dissolution) and showest favour to the created beings. Thus Thou art the Authoress of the above five fold things that are done; so, O Bhuvanes’varî, I bow down to Thee! Thou art the great efficient and material cause of the changeful. Thou art the Unchangeable, Immoveable Consciousness; Thou art the half letter (Ardhamâtrâ), Hrillekhâ (the consciousness that ever pervades both inside and outside the Universe); Thou art the Supreme Soul and the individual soul. Salutation again and again to Thee.<br /><br />O Mother! I now realise fully well that this whole Universe rests on Thee; it rises from Thee and again melts away in Thee. The creation of this Universe shews Thy infinite force. Verily, Thou art become Thyself all these Lokas (regions). During the time of creation Thou createst the two formless elements akâsâ and Vâyu and the three elements with form, fire, water, and earth; then with these Thou createst the whole Universe and shewest this to the Enjoyer Purusa, who is of the nature of consciousness, for His satisfaction. Thou again dost become the material cause of the twentythree (23) Tattvas, Mahat, etc., as enumerated in the Sânkhya system and appearest to us like a mirage.O Mother! Were it not for Thee, no object would be visible, Thou pervadest the whole Universe. It is for this reason that those persons that are wise declare that even the Highest Purusa can do no work without Thy aid.O Devî! Thou createst and art giving satisfaction to the whole Universe by Thy power; again at the time of Pralaya Thou swallowest forcibly all these that are seen. So, O Devî! Who can fathom Thy powers? O Mother! Thou didst save us from the hands of Madhu and Kaitabha. Then Thou hast brought us to this Mani Dvîpa and shewed us Thy own form, all the extended regions and immense powers and given us exquisite delight and joy. This is the highest place of happiness O Mother! When I Myself, S'ankara and Brahmâ or any one of us is unable to fathom Thy inconceivable glory, who else can then ascertain? O Bhavânî! Who knows, how many more than the several regions that we saw reflected in thy nails of Thy feet, exist in Thy creation. O One endowed with infinitely great powers! O Devî! we saw another Visnu, another Hara, another Brahmâ, all of great celebrity in the Universe exhibited by Thee; who knows how many other such Brahmâs,etc., exist in Thy other Universes! Thy glory is infinite. O Mother! I bow down again and again to Thy lotus feet and pray to Thee that may Thy this form exist always in my mind. May my mouth always utter Thy name and may my two eyes see always Thy lotus feet.O Revered One! May I remember Thee as my Goddess and may'st Thou constantly look on myself as Thy humble servant. O Mother! What more shall I say than this :-- May this relation as mother and son always exist between Thee and me. O World-Mother! There is nothing in this world that is not known to Thee for Thou art omniscient. So O Bhavânî! What more shall my humble self declare to Thee! Now dost Thou do whatever Thou desirest. O Devî! The rumour goes that Brahmâ is the Creator, Visnu is the Preserver, and Mahes'vara is the Destroyer! Is this true? O Eternal One! It is through Thy Will power, through Thy force, that we create, preserve and destroy. O Daughter of the Himalaya mountain! The earth is supporting this Universe; it is Thy endless might that is holding all this made of five elements. O Grantress of boons! It is through Thy power and lustre that the Sun is lustrous and becomes visible. Though Thou art the attributeless Self, yet by Thy Mâyic power Thou appearest in the form of this Prapancha Universe. When Brahmâ, Mahes'a, and I myself take birth by Thy power and are not eternal, what more can be said of Indra and other Devas than this that they are mere temporary things and created. It is only Thou that art Eternal, Ancient Prakriti and the Mother of this Universe. O Bhavânî! Now I realise from my remaining with Thee, that it is Thou that dost impart, out of mercy, the Brahmâ vidyâ to the ancient Purusa; and thus He can realise His eternal nature. Otherwise He will remain always under delusion that He is the Lord, He is the Purusa without beginning, that He is good and the Universal Soul, and thus suffers under various forms of egoism (Ahamkâra).<br /><br />Thou art the Vidyâ of the intelligent persons and the S’akti of the be­ings endowed with force; Thou art Kîrtî (fame), Kânti (lustre), Kamalâ (wealth) and the spotless Tusti (peace, happiness). Amongst men, Thou art the dispassion, leading to Mukti (complete freedom from bondage). Thou art the Gâyatri, the mother of the Vedas; and Thou art Svahâ, Svadhâ, etc. Thou art the Bhâgavatî, of the nature of the three Gunas; Thou art the half mâtrâ (half the upper stroke of a letter), the fourth state, transcending the Gunas. It is Thou that givest always the S’âstras for the preservation of the Devas and the Brâhmanas. It is Thou that hast expanded and manifested this whole phenomenon of the visible Universe for the liberation of the embodied souls (Jîvas), the parts of the pure holy Brâhman, the Full, the Beginningless, the Deathless, forming the waves of the lnfinite expanse of ocean. When the Jîva comes to know internally and becomes thoroughly conscious that all this is Thy work, Thou createst and destroyest, that all this is Thy Mâyic pastime, false, like the parts of an actor in a theatrical play, then and then only he desists for ever from his part in this Theatre of world. O Mother! O Destroyer of the greatest difficulties! I always take refuge unto Thee. Thou dost save me from this ocean of Samsâra, full of Moha (delusion). Let Thou be my Saviour when my end will come, from these infinitely troublesome and unreal pains arising from love and hatred. Obeisance to Thee! O Devî! O Mahâ vidyâ! I fall prostrate at Thy feet. O Thou, the Giver of all desires! O Auspicious One! Dost Thou give the knowledge that is All-Light to Me.</div><div align="justify"> Brahmâ said :-- O Nàrada! Thus speaking, Visnu stopped; Sankara, the Destroyer, then stepped in and, bowing down to the Devî said :--<br /> S’iva said :-- O Devî! If Hari be born by Thy power and the lotus-born Brahmâ have come into existence from Thee, why, then, I who of Tamo Guna be not born of Thee! O Auspicious One! Thou art clever in creating all the Lokas! What wonder is there in My being created by Thee.<br /> O Mother! Thou art the earth, water, air, âkâsa and fire. Thou art, again, the organs of senses and the organs of perception; Thou art Buddhi, mind and Ahankâra (egoism).<br /> Those who say that Hari, Hara, and Brahmâ are respectively the Preserver, the Destroyer and the Creator of this whole Universe do know anything. All the three, above mentioned, are created by Thee; then they perform always their respective functions; their sole refuge being Thyself.<br /> O Mother! If the Universe be created of the five elements, earth, air, ether, fire, and water, having the properties of touch, taste, etc., then how these five elements possessing attributes and of the nature of effects, can come into manifestation, without their being born from Thy Chit portion (Intelligence)?<br /> O Auspicious Mother! It is Thou in the shape of Brahmâ, Visnu and S’iva, That art creating this Universe and it is Thou that hast assumed the form of this whole Universe, moving and non-moving. Thus Thou playest, as it wills Thee, under various forms, again and again. Thou dost cease from play (during pralaya) as it likes Thee.<br /> O Mother! When Brahmâ, Visnu and I become desirous to create the world, we execute our duties by taking the dust (earth, etc.) of Thy lotus feet.<br /> O Mother! It it were not Thy mercy, then how Brahmâ could have become endowed with Rajoguna, Visnu with Sattvaguna and I with Tamoguna?<br /> O Mother! If there were no differences observed in Thy mind, then why hast Thou created in this world rich and poor, king and councillors, servants, etc., various classes of beings? Why hast Thou not created all alike happy or all alike miserable?<br /> So Thou wilt have to show Thy mercy towards me. Thy three gunas are capable at all times to create, preserve and destroy the world; then Hari, Hara and Brahmâ, whom Thou hast created as the cause of the three worlds, is simply Thy will.<br /> O Bhavâni! If Thy Gunas had no power in the acts of creation, etc., then how can the fact that while we three Hari, Brahmâ and I were coming in the aeroplane, we saw on our way new worlds created by Thee, become possible? Kindly dost Thou say on this. O World-Mother! It is Thou that desirest to create, preserve, and destroy this world by Thy part Mâyik power. Thou art always enjoying with Purusa, Thy husband. O S’iva! We cannot fathom Thy inscrutable ways.<br /> O auspicious one! How can we understand Thy sport? O Mother! We are transformed into young women before Thee; let us serve Thy lotus feet. If we get our manhood, we will be deprived from serving Thy feet and thus of the greatest happiness. O Mother! O Sire! I do not like to leave Thy lotus feet and get my man-body again and reign in the three worlds. O Beautiful faced one! Now that I have got this youthful feminine form before Thee, there is not a trace of desire within me to get again my masculine form. What use is there in getting manhood, what happiness is there if I do not get sight of Thy lotus-feet!<br /> O Mother! Let this unsullied fame of mine be spread over in the three worlds that I have got, in this young womanly form, the chance of serving Thy lotus feet that has got this effect that the idea of world goes away. Who is there that will leave Thy service and desire to enjoy the foeless kingdom in the world? Oh! even a moment appears a Yuga to him who has not got Thy lotus feet with him! O Mother! Those that leave the worship of Thy lotus feet and become engaged in performing tapasyâ are certainly deprived of the best thing by the Creator, though their minds be pure and holy. Their power from their Tapasyâ may be acquired and they be entitled for Mukti; yet they get dire defeat from not having Thee.<br /> O Unborn One! Austerities, control of passions, enlightenment or performance of sacrifices, as ordained in the Vedas, nothing can save, from this ocean of Samsâra. It is the devotional worship only of Thy lotus feet that can make one attain the Beatitude. O Devî! If Thou be extremely merciful towards me, then initiate me in that wonderful holy mantra of Thine; I will repeat that omnipotent par-excellent nine-lettered mantra of the Chandikâ Devî and be happy.<br /> O Mother! In my former birth I got the nine-lettered mantra but now I have forgotten it O Tarinî! O Saviour! Give me today that mantra and save me from this ocean of world. Brahmâ said :-- When S’iva of wonderful fire and energy, said this, the Devî Ambikâ clearly uttered the nine lettered mantra. Mahâdeva accepted the mantra and became very glad. He fell down at the feet of the Devî, and then and there began to repeat the nine-lettered mantra together with Vîja (seed) that yields desires and liberation and can be easily pronounced. When I saw S'ankara, the Auspicious One to all the Lokas, in that state, I fell down also at the feet of the Devî and spoke to Mahâ Mâyâ :-- O Mother! It is not that the Vedas are unable to ascertain Thy nature; for, in the performances of sacrifices and other minor actions, they do not mention Thy full Nature, the Ordainer of all but mention simply Indra and minor deities and Svâhâ Devî, a portion of Thy essence as the presiding deities of the sacrificial offerings and oblations. So, O Devî! It is Thou that hast been extolled in this Universe as the Universal Consciousness, all knowing and transcending all the Devas and all the Lokas.<br /> Note :-- The nine lettered mantra is “Om Hrîm S'rîm Chandikâyai namah.”<br /> I have created this greatly wondrous Universe; I am the Lord of this Brahmânda. Who is there more powerful than me in these three worlds? When I am Brahmâ, transcending all the Lokas, then I am blessed; there is no doubt in this. By reason of this vanity I am plunged in this widely extended ocean of Samsàra.<br /> That now I have been able to get the dust of Thy lotus feet, has now made me really proud; and truly I am blessed today and by Thy grace this manifestation of pride on my part has become quite justified. Thou destroyest the fear of this Samsâra and givest Mukti. So, O Goddess! pray unto Thee that Thou dost cut asunder this iron chain of my delusion, full of great troubles and make me devoted to Thee. O Auspicious One! I am born from the lotus discovered by Thee; now I am extremely anxious how I can get Mukti. I am Thy obedient servant; I am merged in the delusion of this ocean of world. Save me O S’iva! from this Samsâra. Those who do not know Thy character, think that I am the Creator and Lord of this Universe; those, who do not worship Thee and worship Indra and other Devas and perform sacrifices to attain Heaven are certainly ignorant of Thy glory. O Prime Mâyâ! Thou art the Eternal Mahâ Mâyâ! It is Thou that dost want to play this worldplay, and for that purpose hast created me as Brahmâ. Then I created these four sorts of beings, engendered by heat and moisture (said of insects and worms), those that are oviparous, those that are sprung from germs or shoots, and those that are born from womb, viviparous and exhibit my pride “That I am omniscient” So forgive this sin of mine, this my pride.<br /> So we find that Vishnu himself calls Devi as a Destroyer so we can conclude that when she is the destroyer how can she ever be destroyed.so she is Niruppallava today,tomorrow and always.</div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-47728106422228140442010-05-14T02:46:00.000-07:002010-05-14T03:40:16.146-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 142<div align="justify">142 Nishkama – She who does not have any desires</div><div align="justify">Very often we mistake God to be a desiring authority of all our actions and we are often led to think the same,but let me assure you that Devi wants us to do things responsibly and she helps uus find our way through our karma and provides us the salvation that every soul seeks and yearns for.She provides us with several lessons on this path and teaches us the glory of it and she herself does not expect anything from us in return for the lessons she has taught us.So bearing this in mind let us find our way of nishkama.</div><div align="justify"> In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna exhorts King Arjuna to fight the war of Dharma with their cousins King Duryodhana. He emphasizes upon the fact that it is not a fighting between relatives or Human Beings but it is a fight between Truthfulness and Adharma.<br />As per Bhagvad Gita shloka VIII-7 King Duryodhana was not following the settled rules of the society there was no other way than to fight him. King Arjuna could not accept this statement of Lord Krishna and retorts that it would be totally unbecoming of him to be the cause of murder of his innocent relatives. </div><div align="justify">As King Duryodhana was totally not agreeable to what was being said by Lord Krishna ... Lord Krishna again emphasizes upon King Arjuna that it is not he who would be fighting the war but it would just be the garb of his own atman (the self within) that would carry out its duties in the times of war. As a King one has to fight the war to save the kingdom ... the interest of his subjects came first and then come relatives and friends. As long as we continue to think of our physical self as the real self ... we are far away from truth.<br />As stated in Bhagvad Gita shloka VIII-7 Lord Krishna also emphasizes that having developed full Faith in existence of god ... one must leave matters in the hands of the Almighty God ... this does not mean that we do not complete our daily chores but we must continue doing everything as the fruits of our Karma shall be a property of our atman the soul within.<br />Once we are devoid of I of senses and the mind ... then only we shall be able to perform Nishkama Karma ... that means performing Karma with an unattached attitude. Once there is no binding with the Karma we are performing ... there is nothing left but for God to accept our prayers.<br />The war of Dharma (the requisite of the day) can only be performed by Nishkama Karma. Having taken control of senses and subsequently the mind ... can we hope for attaining the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi! This is very essential on the path of spirituality as nothing worthy can be accomplished without performing Nishkama Karma.<br />Lord Krishna knew the moment this concept of Nishkama Karma and the war of Dharma is clear to King Arjuna ... there shall remain no element of doubt in performing the war. Lord Krishna again and again pokes King Arjuna for declaring the war she in the name of God Almighty of the cosmos.<br />As stated in Bhagvad Gita shloka VIII-7 Lord Krishna also exhorts that every Human Being must submit one day or the other to God Almighty ... by doing this no ill can ever befall the kingdom. It was a must to succeed in Life and also the war field. In the name of Dharma Lord Krishna calls upon King Arjuna to start the war of Dharma. By doing this is he emphasized that peace will prevail all over the kingdom and all uncertainties would come to an end. </div><div align="justify">You constantly keep on asking for material things in your life. This is not a sin, though you must never be attached to the end result of your demands. You must never be attached to action itself. Detachment means non-ego involvement, freedom from the bonds of desire. Actions must be performed in a state of perfect detachment and consecrating their fruit to the Almighty. This means that you must abandon yourself to the Will of God. However you should never be conformist, always try to do your best in order to attain success in everything you do, want or need in life, but at all times try to accept your destiny as part of God’s Will. This is the only way to be near God’s Light at all times. Keep in mind that actions must always be of a positive nature in order to experiment a true state of complete communion with the Supreme. Sometimes you create a dark destiny by acting wrongfully. This is not precisely God’s Will. For example, if you drive carelessly, at a very high speed, then you might have an accident. In this case you reap what you sow.<br /> In the field of action desire takes many forms, but one of the most powerful of all is the vital self’s craving or seeking after the fruit of our works. The fruit we covet may be a reward of internal pleasure; it may be the accomplishment of some preferred idea or some cherished will, or the satisfaction of the egoistic emotions, or else the pride of success of our highest hopes and ambitions. Or it may be an external reward, a recompense entirely material -wealth, power, position, honor, victory, good fortune or any other fulfillment of vital or physical desire. But all alike, are lures by which egoism holds us. Remember that this kind of action severely interferes with our spiritual growth. Therefore, the first rule of action laid down by the Bhagavad Gita -Hindu sacred text- is to do the work that should be done without any desire for the fruit, nishkama karma. It is very difficult for the ordinary human being to decide on something and then to do it purely for its own sake. Yet it is precisely this attitude that is required for attaining spiritual liberation.<br /> Nishkama karma doesn’t mean to be indifferent towards the action that you perform. On the contrary, it requires maximum attention and total responsibility. It is said man has the Dharma -duty to act, but the results of his actions are in God’s hands. We must remember never to be attached to the end results of our actions, because this might severely interfere with our spiritual growth.<br /> According to the Vedas, sacred literature of Hinduism, only by performing akarmaka, actions for their own sake, can the individual attain spiritual liberation from the samsara -cycle of birth and death.<br /> Each individual must radiate love and be ready for thyaga -sacrifice. Only such an individual will be able to evolve at a tremendous speed. A seeker of Truth must become a thyagi, person ready to sacrifice for others. Through sacrifice and the grace of God or the grace or a spiritually realized Guru, the seeker can attain wisdom.<br /> In chapters 2 and 3 of the Bhagavad Gita we can find a complete explanation on nishkama karma:<br />Chapter 2:<br /> 47 I shall now describe nishkama karma yoga, the path of selfless action. You have a right to perform your natural prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to any fruits of that action. You should neither act with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work, nor, as a result, should you be attached to neglecting your duties.<br /> 48 Oh Dhananjaya, after giving up desire for the fruits of action, situate yourself on the path of devotion -bhakti yoga. Equally disposed to success and failure, carry out the duties prescribed according to your nature. To remain equipoised in either success or failure of the outcome of action, is certainly known as yoga.<br /> 49 Oh Dhananjaya, fruitive action is extremely abominable in comparison to Buddha yoga, or equilibrium in selfless action. Those who crave the fruits of their actions are misers -they are impoverished, being full of desires. Therefore, take shelter of the intelligence of which selfless action is the aim and objective.<br /> 50 A person who is not motivated by desire to enjoy the fruits of his actions, rids himself of both good and bad deeds within this very life. Engage, therefore, in the path of selfless action, since such Buddhi yoga, or equilibrium in selfless action, is certainly the art of action.<br /> 51 Wise men of steady intelligence liberate themselves from the bondage of birth, by renouncing the fruits born of action. Thus, they enter into that state of divine tranquillity which is attainable only by the devotees.<br />Chapter 3:<br /> 9 Selfless duty performed as an offering to the Supreme Lord is called yajna, or sacrifice. Oh Arjuna, all action performed for any other purpose is the cause of bondage in this World of repeated birth and death. Therefore, remaining unattached to the fruits of action, perform all your duties in the spirit of such sacrifice. Such action is the means of entering the path of devotion, and with the awakening of true perception of the Lord, it will enable you to attain to pure, unalloyed devotion, free from all material qualities -nirguna bhakti.<br /> According to the Book of Matthew, in the Christian Bible, we can find a description on the correct way to perform actions:<br /> Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.<br /> 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.<br /> 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.<br /> 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.<br /> 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.<br /> We can reach to the conclusion that all deeds that we do exalting our ego, will be an obstacle in our spiritual evolution. Christ expressed that people were having their reward of internal pleasure. Because of their ego, they were feeling superior to others, but obviously this reward is detrimental to their evolutionary process.<br /> There is one power which has the ability to transform ego, and that is love. We must always be ready to sacrifice our interests for the well being of others acting in a genuinely selfless manner. We must try to comprehend and accept every living soul as it is with its vices and virtues. This is much harder to achieve when a family member is involved, but we must be very strong in mind and have a mighty will power, in order to do things in a proper way. Also we must always accept every event in life, whatever be the nature of it, good or bad. In visions, I have seen that if we do not accept everyone as it is, and also if we do not receive every event in life with humbleness, love and optimism, then this will estrange us from God’s Light and our evolution will be retarded.<br /> A real spiritual man must see all men with an equal love and consideration, be they friends, foes or any kind of people. The seeker must have equal vision, all of them should be equally important to him. He must treat everyone with the same warmth and love. His love should know no distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous, the good and the bad. To him a sinner is but an ego living who has not yet understand the spiritual path. Let us be comprehensive towards our fellow men.<br /> In the Christian Bible, Christ stated:<br /> Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.<br /> 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;<br /> 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?<br /> 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?<br /> 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.<br /> According to Buddhism, we should always perform selfless actions giving up desire for its fruits. The cessation of personal, ego consciousness causes the cessation of rebirth, attaining what Buddha called Nirvana -spiritual liberation.<br /> Happily the peaceful live, giving up victory and defeat. (Dhammapada, V 201)<br /> In page 62 of the book, "How to know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali," Patanjali Maharshi declares, "What is the simplest way to acquire non-attachment to the desires, objects and ambitions of this world? We must begin by cultivating attachment to the highest object we can conceive of, to God himself... Through this service and this love, non-attachment to other, lesser loves and objectives comes naturally. It is not that we become indifferent to other people or to our own work and duties. But our love for others is included in our love for our ideal; it ceases to be exclusive and possessive."<br /> Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, great Indian sage, said: "A man is able to see God as soon as he gets rid of ego and other limitations. He sees God as soon as he is free from such feelings as "I am a scholar," "I am the son of such and such a person," "I am wealthy," "I am honorable," "I am a very famous physician," "I am one of the best lawyers in the World," and so forth.<br /> There are many types of seekers of truth. Bhakta -person who is seeking spiritual realization through devotion towards God practicing worship and prayer to the Almighty, jnani -wise soul enlightened by darshans (spiritual visions) with the power to see past, present and future- and yogi -person that seeks spiritual realization through physical exercises, meditation and respiration techniques. All are satvic -nature of the soul with a great tendency to spiritual purity and selflessness. But with their satvic nature of purity, a fault can befall them -satvikahanta, the pride of the satvic. Unwittingly one might feel proud of his own virtue and selflessness. In a way this has become a universal phenomenon. A person that is egocentric, or even that is proud of its own virtue and selflessness, hinders its spiritual evolution. Ego is the archenemy on the path of Self-realization. So try to be very careful in performing actions devoid of egotism, or you will be building obstacles in your evolution.</div><div align="justify">So by being nishkama Devi teaches us to practice nishkama in our daily life so as to reach her and attain salvation.</div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-28021986142404655562010-05-06T03:56:00.000-07:002010-05-06T08:31:11.470-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 141<div align="justify">141 Santha – She who is peace</div><div align="justify">when we say she is peace then what is peace and how can it be obtained.As my thoughts moved from her to the literal word peace I realised that I became jittery and felt uncomfortable because I was away from the comfortable zone.So I took solace in devi Bhagavatam where Devi explains this comfortable zone.We who know her resides inside her and the residence is based on the Bhakthi that we have for her.I have explained about Bhakthi and I would like to reinstate the same here to bring home the fact that Bhakthi alone can bring in peace and that peace is Devi herself.Why do we say Bhakthi alone. Let us hear the words from the divine mother on the concept of Bhakthi and how it brings everlasting joy and peace which we often term as moksha.</div><div align="justify">The Devî said:--" There are three paths, widely known, leading to the final liberation (Moksa). These are Karma Yoga, Jñâna Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Of these three, Bhakti Yoga is the easiest in all respects; people can do it very well without incurring any suffering to the body, and bringing the mind to a perfect concentration. This Bhakti (devotion) again is of three kinds as the Gunas are three. His Bhakti is Tâmasî who worships Me, to pain others, being filled with vanity and jealousy and anger. That Bhakti is Râjâsic, when one worships Me for one's own welfare and does not intend to do harm to others. He has got some desire or end in view, some fame or to attain some objects of enjoyments and ignorantly, and thinking himself different from Me, worships Me with greatest devotion. Again that Bhakti is Sâttvikî when anybody worships Me to purify his sins, and offers to Me the result of all his Karmas, thinking that Jîva and Îs'vara are separate and knowing that this action of his is authorized in the Vedas and therefore must be observed. This Sâttvikî Bhakti is different from the Supreme Bhakti as the worshippers think Me separate; but it leads to the Supreme Bhakti. The other two Bhaktis do not lead to Parâ Bhakti (the Supreme Bhakti or the Highest unselfish Love.)Now hear attentively about the Parâ Bhakti that I am now describing to you. He who hears always My Glories and recites My Name and whose mind dwells always, like the incessant flow of oil, in Me Who is the receptacle of all auspicious qualities and Gunas. But he has not the least trace of any desire to get the fruits of his Karma; yea he does not want Sâmîpya, Sârsti, Sâyujya, and Sâlokya and other forms of liberations! He becomes filled with devotion for Me alone, worships Me only; knows nothing higher than to serve Me and he does not want final liberation even. He does not like to forsake this idea of Sevya (to he served) and Sevaka (servant who serves). He always meditates on Me with constant vigilance and actuated by a feeling of Supreme Devotion; he does not think himself separate from Me but rather thinks himself "that I am the Bhagavatî." He considers all the Jîvas as Myself and loves Me as he loves himself. He does not make any difference between the Jîvas and myself as he finds the same Chaitanya everywhere and mainfested in all. He does not quarrel with anybody as he has abandoned all ideas about separateness; he bows down, and worships the Chândâlas and all the Jîvas. He who becomes filled with devotion to Me whenever he sees My place, My devotees, and hears the Sâstras, describing My deeds, and whenever he meditates on My Mantras, he becomes filled with the highest love and his hairs stand on their ends out of love to Me and tears of love flow incessantly from both his eyes; he recites My name and My deeds in a voice, choked with feelings of love for Me. [N. B.--The Parâ Prema Bhakti is like the maddening rush of a river to the Ocean; thence in the shape of vapour to the highest; Himâlayân Mountain peaks to be congealed into snow where various plays of bright colours take place.]He worships Me with intense feeling as the Mothee of this Universe and the Cause of all causes. He performs the daily and occasional duties and all My vows and sacrifices without showing any miserly feeling in his expenditure of money. He naturally longs to perform My festivities and to visit places where My Utsabs are held. He sings My name loudly and dances, being intoxicated with My love, and has no idea of egoism and is devoid of his body-idea, thinking that the body is not his. He thinks that whatever is Prârabdha (done in his previoas lives) must come to pass and therefore does not become agitated as to the preservation of his body and soul. This sort of Bhakti is called the Parâ Bhakti or the Highest Devotion. Here the<br />predominent idea is the idea of the Devî and no other idea takes its place. He gets immediately dissolved in My Nature of Consciousness whose heart is really filled with such Parâ Bhakti or All Love. The sages call the limiting stage of this devotion and dispassion as Jñâna (knowledge). When this Jñâna arises, Bhakti and dispassion get their ends satisfied. Yea! He goes then to the Mani Dvîpa, when his Ahamkâra does not crop up by his Prârabdba Karma, though he did not fail to give up his life in devotion. That man enjoys there all the objects of enjoymerits, though unwilling and at the end of the period, gets the knowledge of My Consciousness. By that he attains the Final Liberation for ever. Withqut this Jñâna, the Final Liberation is impossible.He realises Para Brahma who gets in this body of his the above Jñâna of the Pratyak Âtmâ in his heart; when his Prâna leaves his body, he does not get re-birth. The S'ruti says:--"He, who knows Brahma, becomes Brahma." In the logic of Kantha, Châmîkara, (gold on the neck) the ignorance vanishes. When this ignorance is destroyed by knowledge, he attains all his knowledge the object to be attained, when he recoginises the gold on his neck.This My consciousness is different from the perceived pots, etc., and unperceived Mâyâ. The image of this Paramâtmâ is seen in bodies other than the Âtmâ as the image falls in a mirror; as the image falls in water, so this Paramâtmâ is seen in the Pitrilokas. As the shadow and light are quite distinct, so in My Manidvîpa, the knowledge of oneness without a second arises. That man resides in the Brahma Loka for the period of a Kalpa who leaves his body without attaining Jñâna, though he had his Vaîrâgyam. Then he takes his birth in the family of a pure prosperous family and practising again his Yoya habits, gets My Consciousness.This Jñâna arises after many births it does not come in one birth; so one should try one's best to get this Jñâna. If, attaining this rare human birth, one does not attain this Jñâna, know that a great calamity has befallen to him. For this human birth is very hard to attain; The attaining of the six qualities (which are considered as six wealth), restraint of passions, etc.; the success in Yoga and the acquisition of a pure real Guru, all these are very hard to be attained in this life. O Mountain! The maturity and the activities of the organs of the senses, and the purification of the body according to the Vedic rites are all very difficult to attain. Know this again that to get a desire for final liberation is acquired by the merits acquired in many births. That man's birth is entirely futile, who attaining all the above qualifications does not try his best to attain this Jñâna, So one should try one's best to acquire the Jñâna. Then, at every moment, he gets the fruits of the As'vamedha sacrifice. There is no doubt in this. As ghee (clarified batter) resides potentially in milk, so the Vijñâna Brahma resides in every body. So make the mind the churning rod and always churn with it. Then, by slow degrees, the knowledge of Brahma will be attained.</div><div align="justify">Let me narrate a passage from devi bhagavatam which when read will bring peace not only to the readers but also peace to this world.</div><div align="justify">Janamejaya said :-- O Best of Munis! It is those that worshipped the Goddess Bhavânî in their previous births with beautiful Kunda flowers, Champaka flowers and Bel leaves, they have, it is inferred, in their present births become possessed of rich enjoyments. And those devoid of any devotion, that obtained this human body in the land of Bhârata and did not worship the Mother Goddess, they are, in the present births, without grains and riches, diseased, and void of any issues. Wander they always as servants, carrying out orders, and bearing on the burden loads; day and night, they seek for their own selfish ends, yet they cannot get their belly full meals. The blind, deaf and dumb; lame and lepers suffer pain and misery in this earth; seeing them, it should be inferred that they never worshipped the Goddess Bhavânî. And those that are wealthy, prosperous, attended by numerous attendants and are always enjoying, like kings, it is to be inferred that they certainly worshipped the lotus feet of the Mother Goddess in their past lives.<br />Therefore O Son of Satyavatî! As you are kind-hearted, kindly narrate before me the excellent deeds of the Devî. O best of Munis! Where did the Goddess, Mahâ Laksmî, created out of the energies of all the gods, depart after She had slain the Mahisâsura and had been worshipped and praised by the Devas? O highly Fortunate one! You told me that She vanished from the sight of the Devas; now I like to know where is She staying now, whether in the Heavens or in the Land of Mortals? Did She melt away then and there or did She descend to Vaikuntha or did She go to the mountain Sumeru? O Muni! Narrate all these duly before me.<br /> Vyâsa said :-- O King! I told you before about the beautiful Mani Dvîpa; that island is the place of sport to the Devî and very dear to Her. In that place Brahmâ, Visnu, Mahâdeva were transformed into females; they afterwards became males and were engaged in their respective duties. That place is grand and splendid and is in the centre of the ocean of Nectar; the Devî Ambikâ assumes various forms there as She likes; and She sports there. To that Mani Dvîpa the auspicious Devî departed after She had been praised by the Gods, to that place where sports always the eternal Bhagavatî Bhuvanes’varî, the incarnate of Para Brahmâ. When the Highest Goddess vanished, the Devas installed, on the throne of Mahisâsura, the powerful King S’atrughna, endowed with all auspicious qualities, the Lord of Ajodhyâ and descended from the Solar line. After making him thus the King, Indra and the other Devas went to their respective abodes on their own conveyances. O King! The Devas having gone to their places, the subjects were governed on this earth according to Dharma; and they passed their times in ease and comfort. It used to rain, then, timely and the earth was covered with plenty of grains and wealth; the trees were all filled with fruits and leaves and gave enjoyment to people. The cows with their udders full like earthen pots gave such a profuse quantity of milk that men began to milk them whenever they liked. The rivers’ waters were all clear and cooling; and they flowed full in regular channels; the birds grouped round them. The Brâhmanas, versed in the Vedas, were engaged in performing sacrifices; the Ksattriyas observed their virtues and were engaged in doing charities and in their education; the kings held their rods of justice and were engaged in governing their subjects; though the several kings were busy with various arms and weapons, they all became fond of peace. Thus no wars nor quarrels were seen amongst the subjects; and the mines yielded plenty of wealth to the people. O best of Kings! There were the Brâhmans, Ksattriyas, Vais’yas and S’ûdras who became the devotees of the Goddess. The Brâhmanas and Ksattriyas used, then, to perform so many sacrifices that, at every nook and corner in this globe, the sacrificial altars and the sacrificial posts became visible. The female sex became gentle and of good behaviour, truthful and chaste towards their husbands respectively. Atheism and unrighteous acts vanished entirely from the face of the earth; the people left all dry discussions; they argued only about the S’âstras that did not go in contra-distinction to the Vedas. Nobody liked to quarrel with each other; poverty, and evil inclinations were checked; the people everywhere lived in happiness. Untimely death was not there; so the people had no bereavements with their friends; no distress was seen. Famine, want of rains, and deadly plagues were out of sight. The people had no illness even; and jealousies and quarrels vanished. O King! all men and women began to sport merrily everywhere like the Gods in Heaven. Theft, atheism, deceit, vanity, hypocrisy, lustfulness, stupidity, and the anti-Vedic feelings were not to be seen. O Lord of the Earth! All the men were then extremely devoted to their Dharma and engaged in serving the Brâhmanas. The Brâhmins were also, according to the three-fold plan of the creation, Sâttvik, Râjasik and Tâmasik. The Sâttvik Brâhmins were all versed in the Vedas, clever and truthful; they were kind, they controlled their passions and they did not accept any presents from others. Filled with their ideas of Dharma, they used to perform their Purodâsa and other such sacrifices with Sâttvik rice, etc., but never, never did they immolate any animals. O King! The Sâttvik Brâhmanas gave charities, studied the Vedas and offered sacrifices for themselves. These were their three ordained actions. They were busy in these. O King! The Râjasik Brâhmanas were versed in the Vedas and acted as priests to the Ksattriyas and ate flesh as sanctioned by recognised rules. They were busy with their six duties. They offered sacrifices on their own behalf, assisted others in sacrifices, took gifts, made charities, studied and taught others the Vedas. The Tâmasik Brâhmanas were angry, attached to worldly objects, and jealous. They studied very little of the Vedas and spent most of their time in serving the kings. O King! Mahisâsura was killed, all the Brâhmanas were glad and began to practise Dharma according to the Vedas, observed vows and made charities. The Ksattriyas began to govern the subjects, the Vaisya carried on their trading business and the other tribes went on with their agriculture, preservation of the cows, and lending money on interest. Thus all men became vary glad on the death of Mahisa. Devoid of cares and anxieties, the subjects got much wealth! The cows were endowed with suspicious signs and gave plenty of milk and the rivers flowed full of waters. The trees looked splendid with abundance of fruits; men were without diseases: in short, people had no mental agony and too much or too little of rains were not there; S’alavas, mice, birds, and seditions we not extant. O King! The beings died not prematurely; rather enjoyed incessantly, their full health and possessed lots of riches; especially beings, engaged in the Vedic Dharma, served the lotus feet of Chandikâ and thus spent their lives.</div><div align="justify">May peace be to all who reads these verses.<br /> </div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-86119165764134600432010-04-29T03:57:00.000-07:002010-04-29T08:26:45.751-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 140<div align="justify">140 Nishkala – She who is not divided<br />This is an apt for her when we look at her as gayatri.why do we say gayatri cannot be divided because even when divided she stands with the same amount of energy.Let me explain this in detail.<br />S’aktis in due order of the twenty four syllables of the Gâyatrî Devî:--<br />(1) Vâma Devî, (2) Priyâ, (3) Satyâ, (4) Vis'vâ, (5) Bhadravilâsinî, (6) Prabhâ Vatî, (7) Jayâ, (8) S’ântâ, (9) Kântâ, (10) Durgâ, (11) Sarasvatî, (12) Vidrumâ, (13) Vis'âle'sâ, (14) Vyâpinî, (15) Vimalâ, (16) Tamopahârinî, (17) Sûksmâ, (18) Vis'vayoni, (19) Jayâ, (20) Vas'â, (21) Padmâlayâ, (22) Parâs'obhâ, (23) Bhadrâ, and (24) Tripadâ.<br /><br />Now hear the respective colours of the several syllables of the Gâyatrî Devî :-- (1) like Champaka and Atasî flowers, (2) like Vidruma, (3) like crystal, (4) like lotus; (5) like the Rising Sun; (6) white like conchshell; (7) white like Kunda flower; (8) like Prabâla and lotus leaves; (9) like Padmarâga, (10) like Indranîlamani; (11) like pearls; (12) like Saffron; (13) like the black collyrium of the eye; (14) red; (15) like the Vaidûrya mani; (16) like Ksaudra (Champaka tree, honey, water); (17) like turmeric; (18) like Kunda flower; and the milk (19) like the rays of the Sun; (20) like the tail of the bird S’uka; (21) like S’atapatra; (22) like Ketakî flower; (23) like Mallikâ flower; (24) like Karavîra flower.<br /><br />Now about their Tattvas :-- (1) earth; (2) water; (3) fire; (4) air; (5) Âkâs'a (ether); (6) smell; (7) taste; (8) form; (9) sound; (10)touch; (11) male generative organ; (12) anus; (13) legs, (14) hands; (15) speech; (16) Prâna (vital breath); (17) tongue; (18) eyes; (19) skin; (20) ears; (21) Prâna (up going breath); (22) Apâna; (23) Vyâna, (24) Sâmâna.<br /><br />Now about the Mudrâs of the syllables:-- (l) Sammukha; (2) Samputa; (3) Vitata; (4) Vistrita; (5) Dvimukha, (6) Trimukha; (7) Chaturmukha; (8) Pañchamukha; (9) Sanmukha; (10) Adhomukha; (11) Vyâpakânjali (12) S’akata; (13) Yamapâs'a; (14) Grathita; (15) Sanmukhon mukha (16) Vilamba; (17) Mustika; (18) Matsya; (19) Kûrma; (20) Varâhaka; (21) Simhâkrânta, (22) Mahâkrânta; (23) Mudgara, and (24) Pallava.<br /><br />The Mahâmudrâs of the fourth foot of Gâyatrî are (1) Trisûlayonî (2) Surabhi; (3) Aksa mâlâ; (4) Linga; and (5) Ambuja. Thus I have described to you all about the Mudras, etc., of the several syllables of the Gâyatrî. If during Japam, one thinks all these and at the same time repeats, all his sins are destroyed and his wealth gets increase and the fame attends on him.<br />In devi bhagavatam Narada questions Narayana about the various steps to take to be free from sins and Narayana explains Narada in his own words.Here it is:<br />Nârada spoke :-- O Bhagavân! Thou art the Lord of this world; Thou canst shew favour and disfavour both; Thou art specially versed in the sixty-four Kalâs (arts of learning); Thou art the chief of the Yogis. I therefore ask Thee to solve a doubt of mine. By what Punyam a man can become free from all his sins and limitations and he can realise and become of the nature of Brahmâ. O Lord! And what are duly the Risis, Chhandas, Devatâs, Dhyân, and Nyâsa, etc., of this meritorious act? I want to hear.<br /><br />Nârâyana said :-- O Nârada! There is but one and the only one way to this and though that is very secret, I will disclose that to you. It is the Gâyatrî-Kavacha. It can destroy all sins. Therefore to recite or to hold it on one's body enables the man to become free from all his sins and to get all his desires fulfilled and he gets the Sâyuya Mukti with the Devî (be merged in the Devî-Body). Now hear the Risis, Chhandas, etc., of this Kavacha :-- Brahmâ, Visnu and Mahes'vara are the Risis; the Rik, Yajus, Sâma and Atharva Vedas are the Chhandas; the Paramâ Kalâ Gâyatrî of the nature of Brahmâ is the Devatâ; “Tat” in Gâyatrî is the Vîja; “Bharga” is the S’akti; and “Dhîyah” is the Kîlaka; and its viniyoga (application) is in getting the Moksa (liberation.). With the first four syllables touch the heart; with the next three letters touch the head; with the next four letters touch the tuft on the crown of the head; with the next three letters on the Kavacha; with the next four letters on the eyes and with the last four letters make the Nyâsa, all over the body repeating “Astrâya Phat,” O Nârada! Hear now the Dhyânam of Gâyatrî, that grants all desires. The Gâyatrî Devî has five faces; one of which is of white colour; and the other four is of pearl, Vidruma, golden, and Nîlakântamani colour respectively. Each face has got three eyes; on the head there is a crown of jewels and the digit of the Moon is shining there. Her body is composed of the twenty-four tattvas. She has ten hands :-- On the top right and left hands there are two lotuses; lower down, there are disc and conch shell; lower down, there are rope and skull; lower down, there are noose and goad; and on the bottom hands right and left she is making signs of “No fear” and “ready to grant boons.” Thus meditating on S’rî Gâyatrî, one is to recite the Kavacha thus :-- Let the Gâyatrî Devî protect my front; Sâvitrî Devî protect my right; the Sandhyâ Devî, my back and the Devî Sarasvatî, my left. Let my Mother Pârvatî Devî protect my quarters. Let Jalas'âyinî protect the southeast; Yâtudhâna Bhayankarî protect my South-west; Pavamânavilâsinî my north-west; Rudrarûpinî Rudrânî protect my north-east. Let Brahmânî protect my top and Vaisnavî protect my nether regions. Let the word “Tat” in the Gâyatrî protect my legs; “Savituh” protect my Knees; “Varenyam,” protect my loins; “Bhargah,” my navel. Let “Devasya” protect my heart; “Dhîmahî” protect my neck; “Dhîyah,” protect my eyes; “Yah,” protect my forehead; “Nah” protect my head; and “Prachodayât” protect the tuft on the crown of my head.<br />Again let the “Tat” of the twenty-four syllabled Gâyatrî protect my head; “Sa,” protect my forehead; “Vi” protect my eyes; “Tu” my cheeks; “Va,” protect my nostrils; “Re,” my mouth; “ni” protect my upper lip; “Yah” protect my lower lip; “Bha” within my face; “rgo,” protect my cheeks; “De,” my throat; “Va” my shoulders; “Sya” my right hand; “Dhi” my navel; “ma,” my heart, “Hi,” my belly; “Dhî,” my navel; “Yo” my loins; “Yo”, my anus; “nah,” my thighs, “Pra,” my Knees; “Cho” my shanks “Da” my heels; “Yâ” my legs; and let “at” protect all my sides. O Nârada! This divine Kavacha of the Devî Gâyatrî can baffle hundreds and thousands of obstructions and evils; can grant sixty-four Kalâs and liberation. By the glory of this Kavacha, man can become free from all evils and can attain the state of Brahmâ. Moreover whoever reads or hears this acquires the fruits of making a gift of a thousand cows.<br />Nârada said :-- O Bhagavân! I have heard from you all about the Kavacha and the Mantra of S’rî Gâyatrî. O Deva Deva! O Thou, the Knower of the present, the past, and the future! Now tell about the Hridaya, the highest, the interior or esoteric Essence of the Gâyatrî, holding which, if one repeats the Gâyatrî, he acquires all the punyam (merits), I am desirous to hear this.<br />Nârâyana said :-- O Nârada! This subject on the Hridaya of Gâyatrî is explicitly written in the Atharva Veda. Now I will speak on that, the great secret, in detail. Listen. First, consider the Gâyatrî, the Devî, the Mother of the Vedas as of a Cosmic Form (Virâ trupâ) and meditate all the Devas as residing on Her Body. Now in as much as the Pinda and Brahmânda are similar, consider yourself as of the form of the Devî and meditate within yourself on the Devatâs, thus :-- The Pundits, the Knowers of the Vedas, say this :-- He is not yet fit to worship the Deva and he is not an Adhikârî as yet who has not been able to make himself a Deva; therefore to establish the knowledge of the oneness of the Deva and himself, he is to meditate the Devas within his body, thus :--<br />O Nârada! Now I will speak on the Hridaya of Gâyatrî, knowing which every man becomes able to become all the Devas. Listen. The Risi of this Gâyatrî Hridaya is Nârâyana; the Chhandas is Gâyatrî; and S’rî Parames'varî Gâyatrî is the Devatâ. Perform the Nyâsa of this as mentioned before and taking your seat in a lonely place, meditate intently on the Devî with your heart and head well collected. Now I am speaking of the Arthanyâsa. Hear. Meditate on the Devatâ Dyau on your head; the twin As'vins on the rows of the teeth; the two Sandhyâs on your upper and lower lips; the Agni, Fire, within your mouth; Sarasvatî, on the tongue; Brihaspati on the neck; the eight Vasus on the two breasts; the Vâyus, on the two arms; the Paryanya Deva on the heart; Âkâs'a, on the belly; Antarîksam (the middle space) on the navel; Indra and Agni, on the loins; Prajâpati, the condensed form, as it were, of Vijñâna, on the hip joints; the Kailâs'a and the Malaya mountains on the two thighs; the Visvedevâs on the two knees; Vis'vâmitra on the shanks; the Sun's northern and southern paths, the Uttarâyana and Daksinâyana on the anus; the Pitris on the thighs; the Earth on the legs; the Vanaspati on the fingers and toes; the Risis on the hairs of the body; the Muhûrtas on the nails; the planets on the bones; the Ritus (seasons) on the blood and flesh; the Samvatsaras on the Nimisa (twinkling of eye) the Sun and the Moon on the day and night respectively. Thinking thus, repeat “I take refuge of the Divine Holy Gâyatrî, the Chief and most Excellent One, the Thousand eyed and I take refuge wholly unto Her.”<br />Then repeat “I bow down to Tat savitur varenyam,” “I bow down to the Rising Sun on the East,” “I bow down to the Morning Aditya,” “I bow down to the Gâyatrî, residing in the Morning Sun” and “I bow down to all.” O Nârada! Whoever recites this Gâyatrî Hridaya in the morning finds all the sins committed in the night all destroyed! Whoever recites this in the evening gets his sins of the day all destroyed! Whoever recites this in the evening and in the morning can rest assured to have become free of sins; he gets the fruits of all the Tîrthas; he is acquainted with all the Devas; he is saved if he has spoken anything that ought not to have been spoken; if he has eaten anything that is not fit to be eaten; if he has chewn and sucked anything that ought not to have been chewn and sucked; if he has done anything that ought not to have been done and if he has accepted hundreds and thousands of gifts that ought never to have been accepted.<br />The sins incurred by eating with the others in a line cannot touch him. If he speaks lies, he will not be touched by the sins thereof; even if a non-Brahmachâri recites this, he will become a Brahmachârî. O Nârada! What more shall I say to you of the results of Gâyatrî Hridaya than this :-- that whoever will study this will acquire the fruits of performing thousand sacrifices and repeating the Gâyatrî sixty thousand times. In fact, he will get Siddhi by this. The Brâhmâna, who daily reads this in the morning will be freed of all the sins and go upwards to the Brahmâ (Loka) and is glorified there. This has been uttered by Bhagavân Nârâyana Himself.<br />Next paragragh Lord Narayana explains to Narada the meaning of the gayatri Stotra:<br />Nârada said :-- O All knowing One! Thou showest Thy grace to Thy devotees! Thou hast described this sin-destroying Gâyatrî Hridaya. Now describe Her Stava (hymn of praise).<br />Nârâyana said :-- O World-Mother! O Thou, favouring Thy devotees! O Thou, the Prime Force, O Omnipresent! Infinite! S’rî Sandhye! I bow down to Thee. Thou art the Sandhyâ; Thou art the Gâyatrî, Sâvitrî and Sarasvatî; Thou art Brâhmî, Vaisnavî and Raudrî and Thou art red, white, and black (the colours of Gâyatrî, Sâvitrî and Sarasvatî) that Thou assumest respectively. O Bhagavatî! Thou art always meditated by the Munis as young in the morning, full of youth in the mid-day, and aged in the evening. I bow down to Thee. Thou art seen by the Tapasvis (ascetics) as Brahmânî, riding on Hamsa (swan), Sarasvatî riding on Garuda, and Sâvitrî riding on Bull. Thou art seen within by the ascetics as manifesting the Rigveda (in the form of Sâvitrî) in this world, as manifesting Yayurveda in the middle space (antariksam) and as manifesting Sâmaveda everywhere in the Rudra loka, thus roaming in the three worlds. I bow down to Thee. O Devî! Thou art Rudrânî in the Rudra loka, Vaisnavî in the Visnu loka, and Brahmânî in the Brahmâ loka; thus Thou shewest Thy favour to the Immortals. O Devî! Thou art the Mother delighting the seven Risis (of the Great Bear); Thou art Mâyâ. Thou grantest great many boons to Thy Bhaktas. Thou art sprung from the eyes and hands, tears and perspiration of S’iva and S’ivâ. Thou art the Mother of delights, Durgâ Devî, recited by the following ten names :-- Varenyâ, Varadâ, Varisthâ, Varavarninî, Garisthâ, Varâhâ, Varârohâ, Nîlagangâ, Sandhyâ and Bhoga Moksadâ. Thou art the Bhâgirathî (the river Ganges) in this world; the Bhogavatî in the Pâtâla; and the Mandâkinî (the milky way) in the Heavens. Thou art in this world (Bhur loka) the all-enduring Prithvî (earth); Thou art the Vâyu S’akti (air power) in the middle space (Bhubhar Loka); Thou art the energy (the ocean of Tejas) in the Heavens (Svar loka); Thou art the Great Siddhi in the Mahar loka; Thou art Janâ in the Janar Loka; Thou art Tapasvinî in the Tapar loka; Thou art Truth (True Speech) in the Satya lokam. Thou art Kamalâ in Visnu loka; Gâyatrî in Brahmâ loka; and the other half of Hara as Gaurî in the Rudra loka. O Devî! Thou art sung as Prakriti – “Aham” “Om-Mahat” tattva and beyond that the Highest Sarva<br />Brahmâ rûpinî and Sâmyâvasthâ Prakriti. Thou art the Parâ S’akti; Thou art the Paramâ S’akti; O Devî! Thou art the Tri-S’akti :-- the Ichchhâ S’akti (the will power), the Kriyâ S’akti (power of action) and the Jñâna S’akti (the force of knowledge). Thou art the Gangâ, Yamunâ, Vipâs'â, Sarasvatî, Sarayu, Devîkâ, Sindhu; Narmadâ, Îrâvatî, Godâvarî, S’atadru; Kâverî, Kaus'ikî, Chandra Bhâgâ, Vitastâ, Gandakî, Tapinî, Karatoyâ, Gomatî, and Vetravatî and other rivers; Thou art the Idâ, Pingalâ, and Susumnâ nerves; Thou art Gândhârî, Hastajihvâ, Pûsâ, Apûsâ, Alambusâ, Kuhû, S’ankhinî, Prânavâhinî and other nerves in the body; O Devî! Thou art the vital power in the lotus of the heart; Thou art Svapna nâikâ in the throat; Thou art Sadâdhârâ in the palate; and Thou art the Vindumâlinî S’akti in the pituitary space between the eyebrows.<br /><br />Thou art the Kundalinî in the Mûlâdhâra (sacral plexus), the Vyâpinî extending upto the roots of the hairs; Thou art Madhyâsanâ on the crown of the head, and Thou art Manonmanî in the Brahmârandhra. O Devî! What need there is in stating these? Suffice it to say that whatever there is seen in this universe, all art Thou; therefore, O S’rî Sandhyâ Devî! I bow down to Thee. O Nârada! Thus I have spoken to you about the Gâyatrî-Stotra that gives all successes, destroys all sins, and yields all merits. He who reads this in the Sandhyâ times, with all attention, will get sons if he has no sons, will get wealth if he has no wealth. There is no doubt in this. Whoever reads this Stotra gets the fruits of all Tîrthas, all Tapasyâs, all gifts, all sacrifices and all Yogas. He enjoys happiness in this world and finally gets the Moksa. The Munis who are engaged in Tapasyâs read this Stotra. While bathing, if one reads this, merged under water, acquires the fruits of his being merged in the Sandhyâ. O Nârada! I speak this verily, verily, verily, unto you that there is no trace of any doubt in this statement. Whoever will hear with devotion this Sandhyâ stotra, the nectar-like thing, will be freed from all sins. </div><div align="justify">Understanding about gayatri gives us an insight into why the parasakthi is described to be undivided because even when divided she stands as one.<br /></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-16381641224887943622010-04-26T06:44:00.000-07:002010-04-26T07:32:54.382-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 139<div align="justify">139 Nirguna – She who is beyond any characteristics</div><p align="justify">In today's post we are going to look into Adi sakthi's manifestations and forget ourself in her divinity. Sakthi is the one who has complete & true knowledge & is the One who confers it to those who seek. Sakthi, who rules the worlds, transformed & purified my thoughts.</p><p align="justify">“Mother , please come in my heart ,<br />Let me clean my Heart , so that you are there.<br />Put your feet in my heart.<br />Let your feet be worshipped in my Heart.<br />Let me not be in illusion, keep me in reality<br />Take away the sheen of superficiality .<br />let me enjoy your feet in my heart.<br />Let me see your feet in my heart."</p><p align="justify">Mother is the first manifestation of power and is considered a higher idea than father. The name of mother brings the idea of Shakti, Divine energy and omnipotence. The baby believes its mother to be all-powerful, able to do anything. The Divine Mother is the Kundalini sleeping in us; without worshipping Her, we can never know ourselves. All merciful, all-powerful, omnipresent - these are attributes of the Divine Mother. She is the sum total of the energy in the Universe. Every manifestation of power in the universe is Mother. She is Life, She is Intelligence, She is Love. She is in the universe, yet separate from it. She is a person, and can be seen and known - as Sri Ramakrishna saw and knew Her. Established in the idea of Mother, we can do anything. She quickly answers prayers. She can show Herself to us in any form at any moment. The Divine Mother can have form (rupa) and name (nama), or name without form; and as we worship Her in these various aspects, we can rise to Pure Being, having neither form nor name. The sum-total of all the cells in an organism is one person. Each soul is like one cell, and the sum of them is God. And beyond that is the Absolute. The sea calm is the Absolute; the same sea in waves is the Divine Mother. She is time, space and causation. Mother is the same as Brahman and has two natures; the conditioned and the unconditioned. As the former, She is God, nature and soul. As the latter, she is unknown and unknowable. Out of the Unconditioned came the trinity, God, nature and soul - the triangle of existence. A bit of Mother, a drop, was Krishna; another was Buddha. The worship of even one spark of Mother in our earthly mother leads to greatness. Worship Her if you want love and wisdom." </p><p align="justify">“Wherever Siva is, there She is Where there is body, as life guardian She is,Where there is Sky, Sakthi is, and also in space beyond. Thus understand that Sakthi is everywhere and<br />Shiva and Sakthi perform their work together.”“She is an ancient one and of unsurpassing beauty. She resides in the Sahasrara of seekers. Her eyes note and record everything. She has the power to pull everything which are spread In direction eight. She is the one who confers Shudha vidya and occupies the sahasraralotus.</p><p align="justify">“Jnani’s describe Parasakthi as Ananda,<br />Jnani’s describe Parasakthi as Formless,<br />Jnani’s describe that all actions are because of Her Icha,<br />Jnani’s describe that Parama Shiva is in Her Heart ".</p><p align="justify">“ She is Space and beyond Space,<br />She is spread in Everything and holds everything in Her.<br />The Entire Universe is nothing but HER .</p><p align="justify">She exists in the sound of mantras.Om is the inarticulate primal sound. It is called the great seed mantra [MahAbIja] of the four stages of sound. It becomes articulate at the last stage called vaikharI or spastatara spands. The Pranava Mantra is, therefore, the sound equivalent of Brahman. It is the source of all other seed mantras and of all compounded sounds. BIjA mantras are the various forms of various deities with attributes sounds. They are sagunarUpa of the Devas and Devis. Om being the general sound the other BIja mantras are the particular sounds which are the letters of the alphabet. Strictly speaking a bija mantra consists of a single letter with candra bindu which conveys the unity of all saktis in Brahman. Every letter, syllable and mantra is, thereforem a form o [rUpa] of the Brahman. So is the image and all the lines of the yantra and all the objects in the universe. Mantra sAdhanA is therefore an essential part of spiritual discipline. By the rhythmical vibrations of the sounds of a bIja mantra together with the power of sAdhana sakti, there arises the form of the Devi which it is' </p><p align="justify">HrIm is a seek symbol of Goddess Bhuvanesvari, the sovereign authority of the triple process of manifestation. It is called the MAyA bijA, the seed of jugglery. This is known as the Tantric Pravana as AUM is called the VedAntic Pranava and Aham the Saiva Pranava. The analytical meaning of Hrim is quoted by Sir John Woodroffe from the Varada Tantra [chapter 6] is : "ha means Siva, Ra is said to be Prakrti. I mean MahAmayA. NAda is said to be mother of universe. Bindu means dispeller of sorrow. With that Bhuvanesvari should be worshipped"A similar interpretation is the "HrimKAra mantra is that form of BhavanI in which all activities have become solid in the substratum of IcchA, JnAna and kriyA saktis. That is the seed of universe called PArA Sakti. By reflecting on this seed mantra the earnest sAdhaka becomes aware of super consciousness. With the help of PrAnAyAma and Bandha, a a yogi concentrates on the sound HrIm and awakens the Kundalini sakti, thus through BhrAmari AbhyAsa. This is also known as the vAcaka mantra upAsanA.The seed letter HrIm is described as EkAksara BrahmA in Atharva Veda. Concentration on this mantra is done by the blissful ascetics or purified mind and of high learning. Hrim represents the unity of the three great powers of Siva, granting the fulfilment of all desires to the seeker of spiritual truth.</p><p align="justify">Kllim is the seed formula of ParA sakti in its action aspect formed as suchSabda Brahma is the knowledge of the supreme spirit manifesting itself in indistinct sound called anAhata. The vowels of sanskrit alphabet a to am denote this sound. When the consonants ka and la combines with vowels, distinct or articulate sound is produced with means that kla denotes creation coming to preservation stage where knowledge is essential towards action. This is called Sakti tattva. I stands for clear conception. The power of perception changes into power of conception. The seed letter kla ending with Bindu connotes non-dual Brahman known as ParA siva or ParA sakti. Therefore the seed mantra Klim stands for the predominance of kriyA sakti, which manifests like the lustre of the moon. Klim also means the state where there is no assumption. It is the junction where fulfilment of all desires takes place. The mantra is, therefore, known as KAmarAja mantra.The deity kriyA sakti is MahA Laksmi who is evident in two forms, the malignant and the benignant. In the former case KAlI as DurgA works fear and panic in the heart of the timid and unwary. In the latter case KAlI as Laksmi is the foster mother to the knowing and tenacious. The Bindu connotes that in all ways the import is the non-dual Brahman. KlIm corresponds to the second stage of speech. MadhyamA vAk. Its place of pronunciation is the head, where ideas begin to take the form of words . The mystic syllables of the alphabet are called MAtrikA, which are fifty in number. These are the nature of varna [letter[ or dhavanI [subtle sound] manifesting in sabda [universal souond]. The entire universe is said to be born of sabda. Paramesvara or undifferentiated sakti is therefore called Sabda Brahman. According to the AbhAsa-vAda of the Saiva and Sakta schools, the universe consists of appearance which are all real in the sense that they are aspects of the ultimate Reality. This is represented by MAtrikA saktis, the system of alphabet as the initial cause of manifestation, on the basis of the theory of Reflection . The System of MAtrika is the image of the state of Siva in Sakti with all power. </p><p align="justify">Manifestation appears with essential relation of the word and its object, vAcaka and vAcya or NAma and RUpa. All Activity, in the universe, is carried on through words formed from MAtrikA cakra, the alphabetical letters or lettered sounds, in relation to their objects. It is important for a spiritual aspirant to understand the mystery of MAtrikAcakra 'a' is the first letter in MAtrikAcakra, the theory of Sanskrit alphabet. It represents cit sakti, the nature of Siva who is one with and not separated from it. This state is called Anuttara cit, 'a' is therefore, the inner controller residing in all letters of the alphabet. It represents cit sakti as one with Siva, who creates this universe in His own self as reflection of His sweet will.After cit sakti [a] comes Ananda sakti, which is represented by the letter 'a'. The third letter 'i' represents icchA sakti, the energy of will . It is understand icchA sakti, residing peacefully in its own nature, consciousness and bliss or cit and Ananda. The letter 'i' therefore, represents the will power of creative consciousness that is undisturbed as yet. The letter 'u' represents the undisturbed JnAna Sakti , the energy of knowledge of Lord Siva. It is called unmesa, which indicates that the universal manifestation is about to begin. JnAna sakti, represented by the letter u, therefore, is the state when ParA sakti, the free will of Siva, is ready to bring about creation, which has not yet begun. When the undisturbed JnAna sakti, represented by letter u, gets agitated it is represented by the letter u. This disturbed JnAna sakti becomes the cause of object of the appearance of manifestation. In this process, when cit sakti [a] and Ananda sakti [A] combine with undisturbed and disturbed icchA sakti [ i and I ] asphut kriyA sakti, evolves. Energy of action is not clear in this first state. This state is represented by ae. KriyA sakti becomes sphuta in its second state. Then with permutation and combination of a,i, u [representing Cit sakti, IcchA sakti and Jnana sakti ] one of the many ways of Kriya sakti expresses itself vividly and is represented by the letter ai, ParA-sakti is here the formation of vivid power of action , known as aikArarUpinI.Thus looking into this what more can we say about her divine nature.</p><p align="justify"><br /></p>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-68865205606470689352010-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:002010-04-22T08:49:53.147-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 138<div align="justify">138 Nirakula – She who cannot be attained by confused people.</div><p align="justify">சித்தியும் சித்தி தரும் தெய்வம் ஆகித் திகழும் பராசக்தியும், </p><p align="justify">சக்தி தழைக்கும் சிவமும், தவம் முயல்வார்முத்தியும்,</p><p align="justify"> முத்திக்கு வித்தும், வித்து ஆகி முளைத்து எழுந்தபுத்தியும், </p><p align="justify">புத்தியினுள்ளே புரக்கும் புரத்தை அன்றே</p><p align="justify">Getting of those powers great from her,The Parashakthi who gives such powers,That power which leads to the knowledge of Shiva,The salvation that sages who do penance get,The seed for such salvation,The wisdom that comes from such seed,All these thou art, my goddess who is in my wisdom, even then.</p><p align="justify">to understand her we need to realise who we are only then we can understand her ways. devi tries to explain who she is in devi gita::--"Hear, ye Immortals! My words with attention, that I am now going to speak to you, hearing which will enable the Jîvas to realise My Essence. Before the creation, I, only I, existed; nothing else was existent then. My Real Self is known by the names Chit, Sambit (Intelligence), Para Brahma and others. My Âtman is beyond mind, beyond thought, beyond any name or mark, without any parallel, and beyond birth, death or any other change or transformation. My Self has one inherent power called Mâyâ. This Mâyâ is not existent, nor non-existent, nor can it be called both. This unspeakable substance Mâyâ always exists .</p><p align="justify">Mâyâ can be destroyed by Brahmna Jñâna; so it can not be called existent, again if Mâyâ does not exist, the practical world catinot exist. So it cannot be called non-existent. Of course it cannot be called both, for it would involve contradictions. This Mâyâ (without beginning but with end at the time of Moksa) naturally arises as heat comes out of fire, as the rays come out of the Sun and as the cooling rays come out of the Moon. Just as all the Karmas of the Jîvas dissolve in deep sleep (S'usupti), so at the time of Pralaya or the General Dissolution, the Karmas of the Jîvas, the Jîvas and Time all become merged, in one uniform mass in this great Mâyâ. United with My S'aktî, I am the Cause of this world; this S'aktî has this defect that it has the power of hiding Me, its Originator.Mâyâ united with Chaitanya (Intelligence), i. e., Chidâbhâsa is the efficient cause of this Universe; whereas Mâyâ reduced to and united with five original elements is the material Cause of the Universe. Some call this Mâyâ tapas; some call Her inert, material; some call Her knowledge; some call Her Mâyâ, Pradhâna, Prakriti, Ajâ (unborn) and sonic others call Her S'aktî. The S'aiva authors call Her Vimars'a and the other Vedântists call Her Avidyâ; in short, this Mâyâ is in the heads of all the Pundits. This Mâyâ is called various in the Nigamas.That which is seen is inert; for this reason Mâyâ is Jada (inert) and as the knowledge it conveys is destroyed, it is false. Chaitanya (Intelligence) is not seen; if It were seen, it would have been Jada. Chaitanya is self-luminous; not illumined by any other source. Were It so, Its Enlightener would have to be illumined by some other. thing and so the fallacy of Anavasthâ creeps in (an endless series of causes and effects). Again one thing cannot be the actor and the thing, acted upon (being contrary to each other); so Chaitanya cannot be illumined by itself. So It is Self-luminous; and it illumines Sun, Moon, etc., as a lamp is self-luminous and illumines other objects. </p><p align="justify">This My Intelligence is established as eternal and everlasting. The waking, dreaming and deep sleep states do not remain constant but the sense of "I" remains the same, whether in waking, dreaming or deep sleep state; its anomaly is never felt. (The Bauddhas say that) The sense of ntelligence, Jñâna, is also not, felt; there in the absence of it; so what is existent is also temporarily existent. But (it can then be argued that) then the Witness by which that absence is sensed, that Intelligence, in the shape of the Witness, is eternal. So the Pundits of all the reasonable S'âstras declare that Samvit (Intelligence) is Eternal and it is Blissful the fountain of all love. Never the Jîvas or embodied souls feel "I am not"; but "I am" this feeling is deeply established in the soul as Love. Thus it is clearly evident that I am quite Separate from anything else which are all false. Also I am one continuous (no interval or separation existing within Me). Again Jñâna is not the Dharma (the natural quality) of Âtman but it is of the very nature of Âtman. If Jñâna ware the Dharma of Âtman, then Jñâna would have been material; so Jñâna is immaterial. If (for argument's sake) Jñâna be denominated as material, that cannot be. For Jñâna is of the nature of Intelligence and Âtman is of the the nature of Intelligence. Intelligence has not the attribute of being Dharma. Here the thing Chit is not different from its quality (Chit). So Âtman is always of the nature of Jñâna and happiness; Its nature is Truth; It is always Full, unattached and void of duality. This Âtman again, united with Mâyâ, composed of desires and Karmas, wants to create, due to the want of discrimination, the twenty-four tattvas, according to the previous Samskâras (tendencies), time and Karma. In all tlkc S'âstras, it is stated to be the Cause of all causes, the Primeval Tattva and Sachchidlinanda Vigraba. Where all the Karmas are solidified and where Ichchâ S'aktî, (will), Jñâna S'aktî (intelligence) and Kriyâ S'aktî (action) all are melted in one, that is called the Mantra Hrîm, that is the first Tattva. From this comes out Âkâsa, having the property of sound, thence Vâyu (air) with "touch" property; then fire with form, then water having "Rasa" property; and lastly the earth having the quality "smell." The Pundits say that the "sound" is the only quality of Âkâsa; air has two qualities viz., sound and touch, fire has three qualities sound, touch, form; water has four qualities sound, touch, form, taste; and the earth has five qualities sound, touch, form, taste and smell, Out of these five original elements, the allpervading, Sûtra (string or thread) arose. This Sûtrâtman (soul) is called the "Linga Deha," comprising within itself all the Prânas; this is the subtle body of the Paramâtman. And what is said in the previous lines as Avyakta or Unmainfested and in which the Seed of the World is involved and whence the Linga Deha has sprung, that is called the Causal body (Kârana body) of the Paramâtman. The five original elements (Apañchikrita called the five Tan Mâtrâs) being created, next by the Pañchîkarana process, the gross elements are created. The process is now being stated:--O Girijâ! Each of the five original elements is divided into two parts; one part of each of which is subdivided into four parts. This fourth part of each is united with the half of four other elements different from it and thus each gross element is formed. By these five gross elements, the Cosmic (Virât) body is formed and this is called the Gross Body of the God. Jñânendriyas (the organs of knowledge) arise from Sattva Gunas of each of these five elements. Again the Sattva Gunas of each of the Jñânendriyas united become the Antah Karanâni. This Antah karana is of four kinds, according as its functions vary. When it is engaged in forming Sankalpas, resolves, and Vikalpas (doubts) it is called "mind." When it is free from doubts and when it arrives at the decisive conclusion, it is called "Chitta"; and when it rests simply on itself in the shape of the feeling "I", it is called Ahamkâra. From the Rajo Guna of each of the five elements arises Vâk (speech), Pâni (hands) Pâda (feet), Pâyu (Anus) and Upastha (organs of generation). Again their Rajo parts united give rise to the five Prânas (Prâna, Apâna, Samâna, Udâna and Vyâna) the Prâna Vayu resides in the heart; Apâna Vayu in the Arms; Samâna Vayu resides in the Navel; Udâna Vayu rasides in the Throat; and the Vyâna Vâyu resides, pervading all over the body. My subtle body (Linga Deha) arises from the union of the five Jñânendriyas, the five Karmendriyas (organs of action), the five Pranas and the mind and Buddhi, these seventeen elements. And the Prakriti that resides there is divided into two parts; one is pure (Suddha Satbva) Mâyâ and the other is the impure Mâyâ or Avidyâ united with the Gunas. By Mâyâ is meant She, who, without concealing Her refugees, protects them. When the Supreme Self is reflected on this S'uddha Sattva, Mâyâ, He is called Îs'vara. This Saddha Mâyâ does not conceal Brahma, its receptacle; therefore She knows the All-pervading Brahma and She is omniscient, omnipotent, the Lady of all and confors favours and blessings on all. When the Supreme Self is reflected on the Impure Mâyâ or Avidyâ, He is called Jîva. This Avidyâ conceals Brahma, Whose nature is Happiness; therefore this Jîva is the source of all miseries. Both Îs'vara and Jîva have, by the influence of Vidyâ and Avidyâ three bodies and three names. When the Jîva lives in his causal body, he is named Prâjna; when he lives in subtle body he is known as Taijasa; while he has the gross body, he is called Vis'va. So when Îs'vara is in His causal body, he is denominated Îs'a; when He is in His subtle body, he is known as Sûtra; and when He is in His groqs body, He is known as Virât.<br />The Jîva glories in having three (as above-mentioned) kinds of differentiated bodies and Îs'vara glories in having three (as above-mentioned) kinds of cosmic bodies. Thus Îs'vara is the Lord of all and though He feels Himself always happy and satisfied, yet to favour the Jîvas and to give them liberation (Moksa) He has created various sorts of worldly things for their Bhogas (enjoyments). This Îs'vara creates all the Universe, impelled by My Brahma S'aktî. I am of the nature of Brahma; and Îs'vara in conceived in Me as a snake is imagined in a rope. Therefore Îs'vara has to remain dependent on My S'akti.</p>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-437195227101240152010-04-18T01:34:00.000-07:002010-04-18T02:25:45.257-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 137<div align="justify">137 Nirakara – She who does not have any shape</div><div align="justify">"Salutations to the Divine Mother who exists in all beings in the form of intelligence, mercy and beauty, Salutations, O Sweet Mother, the consort of Lord Siva. O Mother Parvati! Thou art Lakshmi, Thou art Saraswati. Thou art Kaali, Durga and Kundalini Shakti. Thou art in the form of all objects. Thou art the sole refuge of all. Thou hast enchanted the whole world. The whole universe is the play of Thy three Gunas. How can I praise Thee? Thy glory is in­describable. Thy splendour is ineffable. Protect me. Guide me, O Loving Mother!"</div><div align="justify">This small prayer came to my mind when I read her name nirakara.</div><div align="justify">The Goddess is multi-faceted, known by myriad names and personified in many forms. As well as responding to the names of Parvati, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Sakti, she also manifests under the titles of Gauri, Uma, Sati, Aditi, Maya, Ganga, Prakriti, Gayatri, Tara, Minaksi, Mahadevi, Kundalini, Durga, Kali, Chamunda and in many other guises.<br />The great mountain peaks of the Himalayas Annapurna, Nanda Devi and Chomo-Lung-Ma (known to Westerners as the world's highest mountain, Everest) all testify to her divine presence. Like the facets of a diamond, these varying forms of the Great Universal Energy that is Devi are merely reflections of the countless aspects that make the whole, the Absolute.</div><div align="justify">the Goddess is considered to be the very spring from which every kind of love flows into the world. From the vast ocean of her being the morphogenetic field that produces all forms the Goddess gives birth to all living things. The pouring forth of this love-energy from her timeless, formless source into the field of time constitutes a sacred mystery.<br />Representations of the Goddess as a crouching woman giving birth to the manifold forms of her creation can be found in Indian art. As the Sky-Goddess Aditi, she pervades all space and is mother to the Gods so revered by the Indo-Aryans.<br />Maya the Sanskrit word for "magic" and "illusion" describes her role as the originator of all material things, all that is perceptible to the senses.As Earth Mother, she is also a deity closely associated with Nature and fertility. Plants, leaves and flowers are commonly used in Indian medicine and, when they appear in portrayals of the Earth Mother .</div><div align="justify">Adorned with jewels and ornaments, she represents all that is precious. She alone is the eternal jewel whose brilliance encompasses and illuminates the universe.</div><div align="justify">Abstract forms can also depict the Goddess in her various forms.As Creator she is symbolised by a downward pointing triangle, the yoni, representative of female sexuality.As Preserver, she takes the form of a straight line, and as Destroyer she is recognised in the form of the circle.In her unmanifested state as the Source of all life, the Goddess is depicted simply as a dot, the bindu, or seed-state of her being.</div><div align="justify">Devi is synonymous with Sakti or the Divine power that manifests, sustains and trans­forms the universe as the one unifying Force of Existence. In fact worship of Devi is not sectarian. It does not belong to any cult, as it is commonly mistaken to be. Devi is not what is set in opposition to Vishnu or Siva, as the common populace understands. By Devi or Sakti we mean the presupposition of all forms of existential powers, the omnipotence and powers! These powers are the glorious attri­butes of God—you may call Him Vishnu or Siva as you like. In other words, Sakti is the very possibility of the Absolute’s appearing as many, of God’s causing this universe. God creates this world through Srishti-Sakti (creative power), preserves through Sthiti-Sakti (preservative power) and destroys through Samhara-Sakti (destructive power). Sakti and Sakta are one, the power and the one who possesses the power cannot be separated; God and Sakti are like fire and heat of fire.</div><div align="justify">It is unfortunate that Devi is understood as a mere blood-thirsty ‘Hindu Goddess’. No! Devi is not the property of the Hindus alone. Devi does not belong to any religion.... not only so much. Devi is not differentiated from the Deva by sexual factors. Devi is the conscious power of the Deva. Let this not be forgotten. The words Devi, Sakti etc., and the ideas of the different forms connected with these names are concessions given to the limitations of human knowledge; they are not ultimate definitions of Sakti! The original Sakti is beyond human comprehension. Bhagavan Krishna says in the Gita, —This is only My lower Nature (Sakti)—beyond is My higher Nature (the Original Sakti), the life-principle which sustains this universe. The Upanishad says, —The Para Sakti—supreme power of this God—is heard of in varieties of ways, this power is the nature of God, manifesting as knowledge, strength and activity. Truly speaking, all beings of the universe are Sakti worshipers, for there is none who does not love and long for power in some form or other. Physicists and scientists have proved now that everything is pure imperishable energy. This energy is only a form of Divine Sakti which exists in every form of existence.</div><div align="justify">Since Sakti cannot be worshipped in its essential nature, it is worshipped as conceived of in its manifestation, viz., creation, preserva­tion and destruction. Sakti in relation to these three functions is Sarasvati, Lakshmi and Kaali. These, as is evident, are not three distinct Devis, but the One formless Devi worshipped in three forms. The Devas corresponding to these are Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesvara, who in the same way are not three Devas, but the forms of the one Supreme Deva who is formless. </div><div align="justify">Sarasvati is cosmic intelligence, cosmic consciousness, cosmic knowledge. Worship of Sarasvati is necessary for Buddhi-Suddhi and Viveka-Udaya, Vichara Sakti, for Jnana or Self-realisation. Lakshmi does not mean mere material wealth like gold, cattle, etc. All kinds of prosperity, glory, magnificence, joy, exalta­tion or greatness come under Lakshmi. Appaya Dikshita calls even final Liberation as —Moksha-Samrajya-Lakshmi. Hence worship of Lakshmi means the worship of the central purpose of existence itself. Mahakaali is the transformative power of Divinity, the power that dissolves multiplicity in unity. The worship of Devi is, therefore, the explanation of the entire process of spiritual Sadhana in all its aspects.For the sake of the continuance of Her Divine Play here, She Herself, as Avidya Maya, has veiled the Truth from you and bound you to this Samsara. When She is propitiated through the practice of sincere devotion and unconditional self-surrender, She, as Vidya-Maya, removes the veil and enables you to per­ceive the Truth.To conclude I would say:</div><div align="justify">"Who dares misery, love</div><div align="justify">And hug the form of death,</div><div align="justify">Dance in destruction's dance</div><div align="justify">To him the Mother comes."</div><div align="justify"> </div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-65640560216403171092010-04-15T07:43:00.000-07:002010-04-15T08:19:04.469-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 136<div align="justify">136 Nithya – She who is permanently stable</div><div align="justify">The following is from Siddha Thirumoolar,a 3,000 verse Thirumandiram.</div><div align="justify">Think of Her;</div><div align="justify">Think of Her time and again;</div><div align="justify">Train your mind toward Her and reach Her;</div><div align="justify">Think of Her, deep in heartRealize Her;</div><div align="justify">The Only One in this world;</div><div align="justify">She will make you bide here below forever</div><div align="justify">You may attain eight attributes of Siva too.</div><div align="justify">I quoted the above poem only to bring it to your notice that Sakthi is everything.the beginning and the end.We were all born from her and we all reach out to her in the end.is that not stablity?</div><div align="justify">Sakthi in her own words describes how she can be reached and gives us the guidelines on how to reach her and the path to follow in devi gita:</div><div align="justify">"O King of mountains! Now hear the real instructions. The Great Self is the only Supreme Thing in this world of Mâyâ (Illusions). He it is that under the various Upâdhis of an actor and enjoyer performs various functions leading to theDharma (righteousness) and the Adharma (unrighteouss). Then he goes into various wombs and enjoys pleasure or pain according to his Karma. Then again owing to the tendencies pertaining to these births he becomes engaged in various functions and gets again various bodies and enjoys varieties of pleasures and pains. O Best of Mountains! There is no cessation of these births and deaths; it in like a regular clockwork machine; it has no beginning and it goes on working to an endless period. Ignorance or Avidyâ is the Cause of this Samsâra. Desire comes out of this and action flows thence. So men ought to try their best to get rid of this Ignorance. O King of Mountains! What more to say than this that the Goal of life is attained when this Ignorance is destroyed. The highest goal is attained by a Jâva, when he becomes liberated, while living . And Vidyâ is the only thing that is able and skilful in destroying this Ignorance. (As darkness cannot dispel darkness so) the Karma done out of Ignorance is Ignorance itself; and such a work cannot destroy Ignorance. So it is not proper to expect that this Avidyâ can be destroyed by doing works. The works are entirely futile. The Jîvas want again and again the sensual enjoyments out of this Karma. Attachment arises out of this desire; discrepancies creep in and out of this ignorant attachment great calamities befall when such faults or discrepancies are committed. So every sane man ought to make his best effort to get this Jñânam (knowledge). And as it is also enjoined in the S'rutis that one ought to do actions (and try to live one hundred years) so it is advisable to do works also."final liberation comes from Knowledge" so one ought to acquire Jñânam. If both these be collectively followed, then works become beneficial and helping to Jñânam. (Therefore the Jîvas should take up both of these.) Others say that this is impossible owing to their contradictory natures. The knots of heart are let loose by Jñânam and the knots are knit more by Karma. So how can they he reconciled? They are so very diametrically opposite. Darkness and light cannot be brought together, so Jñânam and Karma cannot be brought together. Therefore one ought to do all the Karmas as best as one can, as enjoined in the Vedas, until one gets Chittas'uddhi (the purification of one's heart and mind). Karmas are to be done until S'ama (the control of the inner organs of senses), Dama (the control of the outer organs of senses), Titiksâ (the power to endure heat and cold and other dualities), Vairâgyam (Dispassion), Sattva Sambhava (the birth of pure Sattva Guna in one's own heart) take place. After those, the Karmas cease for that man. Then one ought to take Sannyâsa from a Guru (Spiritual Teacher) who has got his senses under control, who is versed in the S'rutis, attached to Brahma (practising the Yogic union with Brahma). He should approach to him with an unfeigned Bhakti. He should day and night, without any laziness, do S'ravanam, Mananam, and Nididhyâsanam (hearing, thinking and deeply realising) the Vedânta sayings. He should constantly ponder over the meanings of the Mahâvâkyam "Tat Tyam asi." "Tat Tyam Asi" means Thou art That; it asserts the identity of the Supreme Self (Brahma) and Embodied Self (Jîvâtmâ). When this identity is realised, fearlessness comes and he then gets My nature. First of all, he should try to realise (by reasoning) the idea conveyed by that sentence. By the word "Tat" is meant Myself, of the nature "of Brahman"; and by the word "Tvam" is meant is "Jîva" embodied self and the word "Asi" indicates, no doubt, the identity of these two. The two words "Tat" and "Tvam" cannot be apparently identified, as they seem to convey contradictory meanings ("Tat" implying omniscience, omnipresence, and other universal qualities and "Tvam" implying non-omniscience and other qualities of a limited nature). So to establish the identity between the two, one ought to adopt Bhâgalaksmanâ and Tyâgalaksmanâ. [N. B.-- Bhâgalaksmanâ--kind of Laksmanâ or secondary use of a word by which it partly loses and partly retains its primary meaning also called Jahadajahallaksanâ. Tyâga Laksmanâ--a secondary use of a word by which it loses partly it@ primary meaning.The Supreme Self is Brahma--Consciousness, endowed with the omniscience, etc., and.the Embodied Self is Limited Jîva Consciousness, etc.) Leaving aside their both the adjuncts, we take the Consciousness,<br />when both of them are indentical and we come to Brahma, without a second. The example is now quoted to illustrate what is called Bhâga laksanâ and Tyâgalaksanâ. "This is that Devadatta" means Devadatta seen before and Devadatta seen now means one and the same person, if we leave aside the time past and the time present take the body of Devadatta only. This gross body arises from th Panchîkrita gross elements. It is the receptacle of enjoying the fruits of its Karma and liable to disease and old age. This body is all Mâyâ; therefore it has certainly no real existence. O Lord. of Mountains! Know this to be the gross Upâdhi (limitation) of My real Self. The five Jñanendriyas (organs of senses), five Karmendriyas (working organs), the Prâna Vâyus, mind and Buddhi (rational intellect), in all, these seventeen go to form the subtle body, Sûksma Deha. So the Pundits say. This body of the Supreme Self is caused by the Apanchîkrita five original elements. Through this body, pain and pleasure are felt in the heart. This is the second Upâdhi of the Âtman. The Ajñâna or Primeval Ignoranee, without beginning and indescribable, is the third body of the Âtman. Know this also to be my third Upâdhi. When all these Upâdhis subside, only the Supreme Self, the Brahman remains. Within these three gross and subtle bodies, the five sheaths, Annamava, Prânamaya, Vijñânamaya, and Ânandamaya always exist. When these are renounced, Brahmapuchcha is obtained. That is Brahma and My Nature, too. This is the Goal of "Not this, Not this" the Vedânta words. This Self is not born nor It dies. It does not live also, being born. (But it remains constant, though It is not born). This Self is unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient. It is not killed, when the body is killed. If one wants to kill it or thinks It as slain, both of them do not know; this does not kill nor is it killed. This Âtman, subtler than the subtlest, and greater than the greatest, resides within the cave (the Buddhi) of the Jîvas. He whose heart is purified and who is free from Sankalpa and Vikalpa (doubt and mental phenomena), knows It and Its glory and is free from sorrows and troubles. Know this Âtman and Buddhi as the charioteer, this body as the chariot, and the mind as the reins. The senses and their organs are the horses and the objects of enjoyments are their aims. The sages declare that the Âtman united with mind and organs of senses enjoys the objects. He who is non-discriminating, unmindful, and always impure, does not realise his Âtman; rather he is bound in this world. He who is discriminating, mindful, and always pure reaches the Goal, realises the Highest Self; and he is not fallen again from That. That man becomes able to cross the Ocean of Samsâra and gets My Highest Abode, of the nature of everlasting Existence, Intelligence and Bliss, whose charioteer is Discrimination, and who keeps his senses under control by keeping tight the reins of his mind. Thus one should always meditate intensely on Me to realise the nature of Self by S'ravanam (hearing), Mananam thinking and realising one's own self by one's Self (pure heart).</div><div align="justify">O Chief of Mountains! Putting a stop to all worldly desires, free from jealousy and other evils, he should (by constant practise of Prânâyâma) make equal according to the rules of Prânâyâma, the Prâna (the inhaled breath) and Apâna (the exhaled breath) Vâyûs and with an unfeigned devotion get the gross body (Vais'vânara) indicated by the letter "Ha" dissolved in the subtle body Taijasa. The Taijasa body, the letter "Ra" is in a cave where there is no noise (in the Susumnâ cave). After that He should dissolve the Taijasa, "Ra" into the Causal body "Î". He should then dissolve the Causal body, the Prâjña "Î" into the Turîya state Hrîm. Then he should go into a region where there is no speech or the thing spoken, which is absolutely free from dualities, that Akhanda Sachchidânanda and meditate on that Highest Self in the midst of the Fiery Flame of Consciousness. O King of Mountains! Thus men by the meditation mentioned above, should realise the indentity between the Jîva and Brahma and see Me and get My Nature. O Lord of Mountains! Thus the firmly resolved intelligent man, by the practise of this Yoga sees and realises the nature of My Highest Self and destroys immediately the Ignorance and all the actions thereof."Reaching out to her involves removal of ignorance ,acquiring of knowledge and attaining of Samadhi the highest state of consciousness.</div><div align="justify"> </div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-88553784138479326872010-04-12T03:38:00.000-07:002010-04-12T04:35:39.161-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 135<div align="justify">135 Nirmala – She who is personification of clarity </div><div align="justify">When we say nirmala it is understood as personification of clarity,I would modify it a little bit and say she gives us the clarity of thought to understand the truth and the glories of shiva and sakthi as we have in soundarya lahiri:</div><div align="justify"><strong>Vishuddhou the shuddha sphatika visadham vyoma janakam</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Shivam seve devimapi siva samana vyavasitham</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Yayo kaanthya sasi kirana saaroopya sarane</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Vidhoo thantha dwarvantha vilamathi chakoriva jagathi</strong></div><div align="justify"> bow before the Shiva ,Who is of the pure crystal form,In thine supremely pure wheel</div><div align="justify">And who creates the principle of ether,And to you my mother,Who has same stream of thought as Him.I bow before you both,Whose moon like light,Forever removes the darkness of ignorance,Forever from the mind,And which shines like the Chakora* bird ,Playing in the full moon light.</div><div align="justify">That eternal immutable existence which transcends the turiya and all other states is the unconditioned Absolute, the supreme Brahman or Para-brahman, without Prakriti (nishkala) or Her attributes (nirguna), which, as being the inner self and knowing subject, can never be the object of cognition, and is to be apprehended only through yoga by the realization of the Self (atmajñana), which It is. For as it is said, "Spirit can alone know Spirit." Being beyond mind, speech, and without name, the Brahman was called "Tat," "That," and then "Tat Sat," "That which is." For the sun, moon, and stars, and all visible things, what are they but a glimpse of light caught from "That" .</div><div align="justify">Shakti is both maya, that by which the Brahman creating the universe is able to make Itself appear to be different from what It really is, and mula-prakriti, or the unmanifested (avyakta) state of that which, when manifest, is the universe of name and form. It is the primary so called "material cause," consisting of the equipoise of the triad of guna or "qualities" which are sattva (that which manifests) rajas (that which acts), tamas (that which veils and produces inertia). The three gunas represent Nature as the revelation of spirit, Nature as the passage of descent from spirit to matter, or of ascent from matter to spirit, and Nature as the dense veil of spirit. The Devi is thus guna-nidhi ("treasure-house of guna" ). Mula-prakriti is the womb into which Brahman casts the seed from which all things are born.So understanding her requires clarity of thought that comes only with worship.Her grace plays a major role in determing the clarity of our thoughts. in a split second we can waiver from the thoughts and it is she who determines what is best for us and our actions are guided by her strong hands that is why she is called nirmala.</div><div align="justify">The Goddess (Devi) is the great Shakti. She is Maya, for of Her the maya which produces the sangsara is. As Lord of Maya She is Mahamaya. Devi is a-vidya (nescience) because She binds and vidya (knowledge) because She liberates and destroys the sangsara. She is Prakriti, and as existing before creation is the Adya (primordial) Shakti. Devi is the vachaka-shakti, the manifestation of chit in Prakriti, and the vachya-shakti, or Chit itself. The Atma should be contemplated as Devi. Shakti or Devi is thus the Brahman revealed in Its mother aspect (shri-mata) as Creatrix and Nourisher of the worlds. Kali says of Herself in Yogini Tantra "Sachchidananda-rupaham brahmaivaham sphurat-prab-ham." So the Devi is described with attributes both of the qualified Brahman; and (since that Brahman is but the manifestation of the Absolute) She is also addressed with epithets, which denote the unconditioned Brahman. She is the great Mother (Ambika) sprung from the sacrificial hearth of the fire of the Grand Consciousness (chit); decked with the Sun and Moon; Lalita, "She who plays"; whose play is world-play; whose eyes playing like fish in the beauteous waters of her Divine face, open and shut with the appearance and disappearance of countless worlds now illuminated by her light now wrapped in her terrible darkness.</div><div align="justify">The Devi, as Para-brahman, is beyond all form and guna. The forms of the Mother of the Universe are threefold. There is first the Supreme (para) form, of which, as the Vishnu-yamala says, "none know." There is next her subtle (sukshma) form, which consists of mantra. But as the mind cannot easily settle itself upon that which is formless, She appears as the subject of contemplation in Her third, or gross (sthula), or physical form, with hands and feet and the like as celebrated in the Devi-stotra of the Puranas and Tantras. Devi, who as Prakriti is the source of Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh-vara, has both male and female forms. But it is in Her female forms that She is chiefly contemplated. For though existing in all things, in a peculiar sense female beings are parts of Her. The Great Mother, who exists in the form of all Tantras and all yantras, is, as the Lalita says, the "unsullied treasure-house of beauty" ; the Sapphire Devi, whose slender waist, bending beneath the burden of the ripe fruit of her breasts, swells into jewelled hips heavy with the promise of infinite maternities.</div><div align="justify">Devi, as Sati, Uma, Parvvati, and Gauri, is spouse of Shiva. It was as Sati prior to Daksha's sacrifice (dakshayajna) that the Devi manifested Herself to Shiva in the ten celebrated forms known as the dasha-mahavidya referred to in the text, Kali, Bagala, Chhinnamasta, Bhuvaneshvari, Matangini, Shodashi, Dhumavati, Tripura-sundari, Tara, and Bhairavi. When, at the Daksha-yajna She yielded up her life in shame and sorrow at the treatment accorded by her father to Her Husband, Shiva took away the body, and, ever bearing it with Him, remained wholly distraught and spent with grief. To save the world from the forces of evil which arose and grew with the withdrawal of His Divine control, Vishnu with His chakra cut the dead body of Sati, which Shiva bore, into fifty-one fragments, which fell to earth at the places thereafter known as the fifty-one maha-pitha-sthana (referred to in the text), where Devi, with Her Bhairava, is worshipped under various names.<br />Besides the forms of the Devi in the brahmanda there is Her subtle form called Kundalini in the body (pindanda). These are but some only of Her endless forms. She is seen as one and as many, as it were, but one moon reflected in countless waters. She exists, too, in all animals and inorganic things, since the universe with all its beauties is, as the Devi Purana says, but a part of Her. All this diversity of form is but the infinite manifestations of the flowering beauty of the One Supreme Life, a doctrine which is nowhere else taught with greater wealth of illustration than in the Shakta Shastras, and Tantras. The great Bharga in the bright Sun and all Devatas, and, indeed, all life and being, are wonderful, and are worshipful, but only as Her manifestations. And he who worships them otherwise is, in the words of the great Devi-bhagavata, "like unto a man who, with the light of a clear lamp in his hands, yet falls into some waterless and terrible well." The highest worship for which the sadhaka is qualified (adhikari) only after external worship and that internal form known as sadhara, is described as niradhara. Therein Pure Intelligence is the Supreme Shakti who is worshipped as the Very Self, the Witness freed of the glamour of the manifold Universe. By one's own direct experience of Maheshvari as the Self. She is with reverence made the object of that worship which leads to liberation.</div><div align="justify">ஞானச் சுடராகி மாயை தவிர்த்திட்டும்</div><div align="justify">ஈன மதியர்க்குச் சித்தந் தெளிவித்தும்</div><div align="justify">தீனர் களுக்குச்சிந் தாமணி. </div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-915750597536788012010-04-08T04:08:00.000-07:002010-04-08T07:53:14.667-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 134<div align="justify">134 Nirlepa – She who does not have any attachment.</div><div align="justify">The Interpretation of nirlepa can begin with the interpretation and understanding of Kamalatmika.now who is this kamalatmika? </div><div align="justify">Kamaltmika is one of the Mahavidyas mentioned in scriptures.Kamala is beauty of perception whereby we see the divine quality in each thing.The quality of our consciousness is our greatest wealth, not what we possess outwardly,which we can never really hold onto anyway.Part of the worship is to unfold the full powers of inner perception in order to see the extraordinary beauty in the simple presence of nature and the Earth.Kamala is different from Lakshmi.Kamala is the aspect of Lakshmi that is part of the wisdom goddesses.She is the form of lakshmi which relates specifically to the practice of yoga.Hence she is also the form of kali.Kali or the beauty of the void is also the basis of kamala or the beauty of life.The spiritual lotus,which is the basis of the universal energy ,blooms in the void.It comes forth in the space of pure consciousness.Hence to allow it to come forth we must first make ourselves empty and clear.only the non attacment of kali enables us to enjoy life and find our fulfillment through kamala.</div><p align="justify">kamala being kali and if we surrender our desires to eternal reality,then kali appears as beautiful,loving and grants us everything in the glory of god.Kamala as the tenth and last of the wisdom goddess shows the unfoldment of the power of the goddess into the material sphere.kamala is the beginning and the end of worship.we first approach the divine seeking hepl in achieving ordinary human wishes,like health,prosperity and a happy family.we complete our understanding of the divine by seeing its presence even in the ordinary things of human life,in the forms of nature and the earth,discerning of divine urge towards union hidden even in wordly desires.</p><p align="justify">Kamala is located in the heart specifically in the heart chakra of the subtle body,which is the place of devotional worship.she is the image of the heart's delight and the heart's wish for perfect wordly beauty and happiness. we should visualize this perfect fulfillment as the divine gracw that naturally comes to te heart of all beings.</p><p align="justify">Any acknowledgement of the divine presence in outer forms of beauty and splendour is a worship of kamala.this maybe the appreciation of art or music,a beautiful face, beautiful sunset or first the joy of being alive.All forms of devotional worship are aspects of kamala,most specifically poojas,like offering flowers,scents,incence,lights,foods to the image of the goddess is a way to honour kamala.but this should be donewith the knowledge recognizing that the outer form is nothing but a reflection of the goddess power that resides within our hearts. </p><p align="justify"> </p>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-87484835484314989922010-04-04T03:17:00.000-07:002010-04-04T04:00:50.739-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 133133 Niranjana – She who is devoid of any blemishes or scars<br />This statement reminds me of devi in her cosmic form.<br />The Satyaloka is situated on the topmost of Her head; The Sun and Moon are her eyes; The quarters of the sky are Her ears; The Vedas are Her words; The Universe is Her heart; The Earth is Her loins; The space between earth and sky is Her navel; The constellations are Her Thighs; The Maharaloka is Her neck; The Janarloka is Her face; Indra and the Devas of the Svarloka are her arms; Sound is the organ of Her ears; Fire is within her Face; Day and Night are Her wings; The mountains are Her bones; The rivers are Her veins, And the trees are the hairs of Her body. Childhood, youth, and old age are Her finest modes; The two twilights are Her raiment; And the Moon is the mind of the Mother of the Universe. ~ <strong>Devi Bhagavata Purana, VII.33.1-21 </strong><br />Such is her intensity and power even the devas could not conceive it as they said :--"O Mother! Forgive our faults. Protect us, the miserable, that are born of Thee. O Protectress of the Devas! Withhold Thy anger we are very much terrified at the sight of Thy this form. "O Devî! We are inferior immortals; what prayers can we offer to Thee! Thou Thyself canst not measure Thy powers; how then can we, who are born later, know of Thy greatness! Obeisance to Thee, the Lady of the Universe! Obeisance to Thee of the nature of the Pranava Om; Thou art the One that is proved in all the Vedântas. Obeisance to Thee, of the form of Hrîm! Obeisance to Thee, the Self of all, whence has originated the Fire, the Sun, and the Moon and whence have sprung all the medicinal plants. Obeisance to the Devî, the Cosmic Deity, the Self in all whence have sprung all the Devas, Sâdhyas, the beasts, birds, and men! We bow down again and again to the Great Form, Mâhâ Mâyâ, the Self of all, whence have-sprung the vital breath Prana, Apâna, grains and wheats, and Who is the source of asceticism, faith, truth, continence and the rules what to do and what not to do under the present circumstances. The seven Prânas, the seven Lokas, the seven Flames, the seven Samidhs, the seven Oblations to Fire, have sprung from Thee! Obeisance to Thee, the Great Self in all! Obeisance to the Universal form of the Deity of the Universe whence have sprung all the oceans, all the mountains, all the rivers, all the medicinal plants and all the Rasas (the tastes of all things). We bow down to that Virât Form, the Great Self, the Mahâ Mâyâ, whence have originated the sacrifices, the sacrifical post (to which the victim about to be immolated is bound) and Daksinâs (the sacrificial fees) and the Rik, the Yajus, and the Sâma Vedas. O Mother! O Mahâ Mâyâ! We bow down to Thy front, to Thy back, to Thy both the sides, to Thy top, to Thy bottom and on all sides of Thee. O Devî! Be kind enough to withhold this Extraordinary Terrific Form of Thine, and sbew us Thy Beautiful Lovely Form.<br />seeing the Devas terrified, withheld Her Fearful Cosmic Form,she showed Her very beautiful appearance, pleasing to the whole world. Her body became soft and gentle. In one hand She held the noose, and in another She held the goad. The two other hands made signs to dispel all their fears<br />and ready to grant the boons. Her eyes emitted rays of kindness; Her face was adorned with beautiful smiles. The Devas became glad at this and bowed down to Her in a peaceful mind and then spoke with great joy.<br />so looking at that where is the question of any scars and blemishes.Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-44280878376433911182010-03-30T01:56:00.000-07:002010-03-30T02:44:02.359-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 132<div align="justify">132 Niradhara – She who does not need any support to herself. </div><div align="justify">In other words we can say she is independent of everyone and everything in this universe.This reminds me of Devi in the form of Durga.Goddess Durga is the mother of the universe and is the power behind the work of creation, preservation, and destruction of the world. Since time immemorial she has been worshipped as the supreme power of the Supreme Being and has been mentioned in many scriptures - Yajur Veda, Vajasaneyi Samhita and Taittareya Brahman. There are many incarnations of Durga: Kali, Bhagvati, Bhavani, Ambika, Lalita, Gauri, Kandalini, Java, Rajeswari, et al. Durga incarnated as the united power of all divine beings, who offered her the required physical attributes and weapons to kill the demon "Mahishasur". Her nine appellations are Skondamata, Kusumanda, Shailaputri, Kaalratri, Brahmacharini, Maha Gauri, Katyayani, Chandraghanta and Siddhidatri. Durga is depicted as having eight or ten hands. These represent eight quadrants or ten directions in Hinduism. This suggests that she protects the devotees from all directions.Like Shiva, Mother Durga is also referred to as "Triyambake" meaning the three eyed Goddess. The left eye represents desire (the moon), the right eye represents action (the sun), and the central eye knowledge (fire). durga has many weapons in her hands.</div><ul><li><div align="justify">The conch shell in Durga's hand symbolizes the 'Pranava' or the mystic word 'Om', which indicates her holding on to God in the form of sound. </div></li><li><div align="justify">The bow and arrows represent energy. By holding both the bow and arrows in one hand "Mother Durga" is indicating her control over both aspects of energy - potential and kinetic. </div></li><li><div align="justify">The thunderbolt signifies firmness. The devotee of Durga must be firm like thunderbolt in one's convictions. Like the thunderbolt that can break anything against which it strikes, without being affected itself, the devotee needs to attack a challenge without losing his confidence. </div></li><li><div align="justify">The lotus in Durga's hand is not in fully bloomed, It symbolizing certainty of success but not finality. The lotus in Sanskrit is called "pankaja" which means born of mud. Thus, lotus stands for the continuous evolution of the spiritual quality of devotees amidst the worldly mud of lust and greed. </div></li><li><div align="justify">The "Sudarshan-Chakra" or beautiful discus, which spins around the index finger of the Goddess, while not touching it, signifies that the entire world is subservient to the will of Durga and is at her command. She uses this unfailing weapon to destroy evil and produce an environment conducive to the growth of righteousness. </div></li><li><div align="justify">The sword that Durga holds in one of her hands symbolizes knowledge, which has the sharpness of a sword. Knowledge which is free from all doubts, is symbolized by the shine of the sword. </div></li></ul><p align="justify">Durga's trident or "trishul" is a symbol of three qualities - Satwa (inactivity), Rajas (activity) and Tamas (non-activity) - and she is remover of all the three types of miseries - physical, mental and spiritual. Anote worthy hymn of goddess durga is:</p><p align="justify"><em>"Ya devi sarvabhuteshu, shakti rupena samshthitha Namasteshwai Namasteshwai Namasteshwai namo namaha". </em></p><p align="justify">As I have mentioned earlier durga exists in nine forms at different times.let us see the nine forms.</p><p align="justify"><strong>Durga Shailputri</strong> (Daughter of Mountain) She is a daughter of Himalaya and first among nine Durgas. In previous birth she was the daughter of Daksha. Her name was Sati - Bhavani. i.e. the wife of Lord Shiva. Once Daksha had organized a big Yagna and did not invite Shiva. But Sati being obstinate, reached there. Thereupon Daksha insulted Shiva. Sati could not tolerate the insult of husband and burnt herself in the fire of Yagna. In other birth she became the daughter of Himalaya in the name of Parvati - Hemvati and got married with Shiva. As per Upnishad she had torn and the egotism of Indra, etc. Devtas. Being ashamed they bowed and prayed that, "In fact, thou are Shakti, we all - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiv are capable by getting Shakti from you." <a name="brahmacharini"></a>Brahmacharini<br />The second Durga Shakti is <strong>Brahamcharini.</strong> Brahma that is who observes penance(tapa) and good conduct. Here "Brahma" means "Tapa". The idol of this Goddess is very gorgeous. There is rosary in her right hand and Kamandal in left hand. She is full with merriment. One story is famous about her. In previous birth she was Parvati Hemavati the daughter of Himvan. Once when she was busy in games with her friends. Naradaji came to her and predicted seeing her Palm-lines that, "You will get married with a naked-terrible 'Bhole baba' who was with you in the form of Sati, the daughter of Daksh in previous birth. But now you have to perform penance for him." There upon Parvati told her mother Menaka that she would marry none except Shambhu, otherwise she would remain unmarried. Saying this she went to observe penance. That is why her name is famous as tapacharini - Brahmacharini. From that time her name Uma became familiar. </p><p align="justify"><a name="chandraghanta"></a><strong>Chandraghanta </strong>The name of third Shakti is Chandraghanta. There is a half-circular moon in her forehead. She is charmful and bright. She is Golden color. She has three eyes and ten hands holding with ten types of swords - etc. weapons and arrows etc. She is seated on Lion and ready for going in war to fight. She is unprecedented image of bravery. The frightful sound of her bell terrifies all the villains, demons and danavas. </p><p align="justify">fourth Durga is <strong>Kushmanda.</strong> The Shakti creates egg, ie. Universe by mere laughing .She resides in solar systems. She shines brightly in all the ten directions like Sun. She has eight hands. Seven types of weapons are shining in her seven hands. Rosary is in her right hand. She seems brilliant riding on Lion. She likes the offerings of "Kumhde." Therefore her name "Kushmanda" has become famous. <a name="skanda-mata"></a>Skanda Mata</p><p align="justify">Fifth name of Durga is <strong>"Skanda Mata".</strong> The daughter of Himalaya, after observing penance got married with Shiva. She had a son named "Skanda." Skanda is a leader of the army of Gods. Skanda Mata is a deity of fire. Skanda is seated in her lap. She has three eyes and four hands. She is white and seated on a lotus.</p><p align="justify"> <a name="katyayani"></a><strong>Katyayani</strong>Sixth Durga is Katyayani. The son of "Kat" as "Katya". Rishi Katyayan born in this "Katya" lineage. Katyayan had observed penance with a desire to get paramba as his daughter. As a result she took birth as a daughter of Katyayan. Therefore her name is "Katyayani" . She has three eyes and eight hands. These are eight types of weapons missiles in her seven hands. Her vehicle is Lion.<br /><a name="kalratri"></a><strong>Kalratri</strong> Seventh Durga is Kalratri. She is black like night. Durga hairs are unlocked. She has put on necklaces shining like lightening. She has three eyes which are round like universe. Her eyes are bright. Thousands of flames of fire come out while respiring from nose. She rides on Shava (dead body). There is sharp sword in her right hand. Her lower hand is in blessing mood. The burning torch (mashal) is in her left hand and her lower left hand is in fearless style, by which she makes her devotees fearless. Being auspicious she is called "Shubhamkari." </p><p align="justify"><a name="maha-gauri"></a><strong>Maha Gauri</strong> The Eighth Durga is "Maha Gauri." She is as white as a conch, moon and Jasmine. She is of eight years old. Her clothes and ornaments are white and clean. She has three eyes. She rides on bull She has four hands. The above left hand is in "Fearless - Mudra" and lower left hand holds "Trishul." The above right hand has tambourine and lower right hand is in blessing style. She is calm and peaceful and exists in peaceful style. It is said that when the body of Gauri became dirty due to dust and earth while observing penance, Shiva makes it clean with the waters of Gangas. Then her body became bright like lightening. There fore, she is known as "Maha Gauri" . </p><p align="justify"><strong>Siddhidatri </strong>Ninth Durga us Siddhidatri. There are eight Siddhis , they are- Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Iishitva & Vashitva. Maha Shakti gives all these Siddhies. It is said in "Devipuran" that the Supreme God Shiv got all these Siddhies by worshipping Maha Shakti. With her gratitude the half body of Shiv has became of Goddess and there fore his name "Ardhanarishvar" has became famous. The Goddess drives on Lion. She has four hands and looks pleased. This form of Durga is worshiped by all Gods, Rishis-Munis, Siddhas, Yogis, Sadhakas and devotees for attaining the best religious asset. </p><p>With all these forms at hand it is no doubt that she is independent and she symbolizes courage,valour and godliness.</p><p>Let me end this post by saying</p><p><em>Durgashtakamidham punyam,</em><em>Bhakthidho ya paden nara,</em></p><p><em>Sarva kamavapnothi,</em><em>Durga lokam sa gachathi. </em></p><p>If this holy octet on Durga, is read by men with devotion,they would get all desires fulfilled,and attain the world of Durga.</p><p><em></em> </p><p><em></em> </p>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-2550858096474725162010-03-27T09:02:00.000-07:002010-03-27T11:30:37.378-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam- 131<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXYv5OcCXtd_kpb8EBXOOhs9kxviRxkr_C-k1Q1ldmdDVxLYjmPwspj9w-Eh4Ms64y-iztpBi6SIGz_F2ZGUadHT36sBMqoPVmnJpDKO5Mu8rxe56WKfE0cTnKhAppsm1g0kDo_5iwZg/s1600/sri-bhuvaneshwari-amman-2b.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453382161517390738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 254px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXYv5OcCXtd_kpb8EBXOOhs9kxviRxkr_C-k1Q1ldmdDVxLYjmPwspj9w-Eh4Ms64y-iztpBi6SIGz_F2ZGUadHT36sBMqoPVmnJpDKO5Mu8rxe56WKfE0cTnKhAppsm1g0kDo_5iwZg/s320/sri-bhuvaneshwari-amman-2b.jpg" border="0" /></a> 131 Santhimathi – She who is peace personified <div><div align="justify">SHe is peace personified or we can say she is peace itself.The other day I was reading Indrakshi Sthothram in which i derived a sense of peace and serenity.as I write this I was thinking of it and my conclusion was she is peace and not peace personified.Here is how i came to the conclusion.</div><div align="justify">Sage Narada during one of his visits to Vaikunta asked Lord Narayana for the reason why whiles Devas and Asuras are healthy by nature, human beings suffer these numerous diseases. Then lord Narayana taught him the Indrakshi sthothra. He told Narada that by reciting this Sthothra, one can lead a disease free happy life. Sage narada taught it to Indra, who in turn taught it to Sage Purandara. It was Sage Purandara who popularized it among human beings. </div><div align="justify"><em>Asya Indrakshi Sthothra Maha Mandrasya,<br />Sasi purandara rishi.<br />Anushtup Chanda.<br />Indrakshi Durga devatha,<br />Lakshmi Beejam.<br />Bhuvaneswari Sshakthi,<br />Bhavani Keelagam,<br />Mama Indrakshi prasad sidhyarthe Jape Viniyoga.</em></div><div align="justify">This Indrakshi sthothra was made known to the world by Purandara Rishi,has been written in Anushtup meter.The presiding deity for the sthothra is Indrakshi Durga.The kernel of the chant is Lakshmi,the strength behing the Manthra is Bhuvaneswari and its axis is Bhavani.I am chanting this manthra to get the blessings of Indrakshi.</div><div align="justify"><em>Nethraanam dasapi sathai Parivrutham,<br />Athyugra sarmaambharam,<br />Hemaabham mahathim<br />vilambhitha sikam,<br />Ammuktha kesanwitham,<br />Kanda manditha pada padma yugalam,<br />Nagendra kumbha sthaneem.<br /></em>Indrakshim parichindayami,<br />Manasa kalbhoktha siddhi pradham.<br />I salute that Indrakshi,Who has thousand eyes,Who has a strong skin,Who is golden in colour,Who has long open and black hair,Who walks with the soft sound made by her anklets,Who has pair of busts like the pot held by the king of snakes.</div>Devi protects her people and protects them from evil in her form as Bhuvaneswari.<br /><div align="justify">Mythology tells us that in the beginning, Surya, the sun, appeared in the heavens. In order to create the world, the sages offered soma (a sacred plant) to the sun. The sun was pleased and through the power of Shakti, He created the three worlds (Bhuvanas). Having created the worlds, the goddess assumed the form of Bhuvaneswari and ruled and protected them.<br />We also find the name of Bhuvaneswari mentioned in the part of Hindu philosophy called Tantra, the religious literature expounding the worship of the Divine Mother. The tantric works describe ten aspects of Shakti (Mahavidya), the universal energy.Bhuvaneswari stands for the concept of space. Space has many levels of manifestation: The space of the physical Universe and the space of the mind. Just as there are many layers of space in the Universe, there are many layers in the higher levels of the mind. In our body, the heart is where the infinite space of the Universe resides, and this is the seat of the Divine Mother, Bhuvaneswari, who represents this Space. By creating space, we release ourselves from stress and tension. Those seeking the supreme peace should invoke and worship the Goddess Bhuvaneswari, who is the power of infinite expansion, peace and equanimity. Her sound-body is Hreem, which is as powerful as Aum. Hreem connects the space within the heart with the infinite, vast space of Consciousness. Like most of the aspects of the Divine Mother, Bhuvaneswari is associated with Maya. Maya comes from the Sanskrit root, “ma”, to measure. Maya is also a synonym for illusion. Thus, Bhuvaneswari symbolizes the dynamic power of God, which manifests itself in a multitude of visible and impermanent forms. In Hindu philosophy, the manifestation is ultimately considered as unreal because of its inconstancy and impermanence. But at the same time, the devotional scriptures say that Bhuvaneswari is also distinct from the illusion She creates because She controls it. But She is not caught in it. This quality of mastery over the worldly illusion gives Her the power to help human beings not to be involved in Maya and not to be bound by it but instead to go beyond it.</div><div align="justify">Bhuvaneshvari’s beauty is mentioned often. Her dhyana describes her as having a radiant vermilion complexion resembling the sunrise and a beautiful face, framed with flowing hair the color of black bees. Her eyes are broad, her lips full and red, her nose delicate. Her firm breasts are smeared with sandal paste and saffron. Her waist is thin, and her thighs and navel are lovely. Her beautiful throat is decorated with ornaments, and her arms are made for embracing. She is seated on a throne, adorned with a flower garland and anklets, bracelets of fine gems. She is also found seated on lions, also group of lions sit around her throne. A crescent moon adorns her forehead, resting atop a jeweled crown. She has three eyes and a pleasant, nurturing smile. She has four arms, in two of which she holds a noose and a goad. With her lower left hand, she makes the gesture (varada-mudra) of offering a boon, and with the lower right she signals fearlessness (abhaya mudra). She is a shakti present everywhere but not seen anywhere.Sometimes she is represented with a lotus and a jewel bowl in tow of her hands, and in other cases her left foot is placed on a jewel bowl.The Great Cosmic Power Bhuvaneswari is sitting on a bed resembling a throne, which consists in representing the five forms of manifestation of the God Shiva, as we described them in the article about the Great Cosmic Power Tripura Sundari.<br />From this throne, the Great Cosmic Power Bhuvaneswari controls and organizes the movement of the entire universe. Different gods and goddesses who serve her and immediately obey her orders surround the Great Cosmic Power Bhuvaneswari.<br />Meditating with great perseverance on this beautiful goddess’s form, the sincere practitioner may obtain her infinite grace, become even enlightened, and reveal his or her supreme Self.</div><div align="justify">This beauty and attractiveness may be understood as an affirmation of the physical world. Tantric thought does not denigrate the world or consider it illusory or delusory, as do some other abstract aspects of Indian thought. This is made amply clear in the belief that the physical world, the rhythms of creation, maintenance, and destruction, even the hankerings and sufferings of the human condition is nothing but Bhuvaneshvari’s play, her exhilarating, joyous sport.<br />She is also known as Om Shakthi or Adi Shakthi q.e one of the earliest forms of shakthi. She is capable of turning situations according to her wish. It is considered that even the navagrahas cannot stop her from doing anything.<br />Both Bhuvaneswari and Kali are intimately connected as representing time and space, which made creation possible. Kali arranges the timing of the cosmic dance while Bhuvaneshwari stands for the original space before creation in which Kali’s cosmic dance takes place. Devotional songs say that Bhuvaneswari is like Saraswathi, the goddess of learning, wisdom and knowledge. She is described as “Jnana Swaroopa,” the highest form of wisdom. It is also said that Bhuvaneswari has so much power that a mere glance from Her gives boons to the goddesses Lakshmi, Parvathi and Saraswathi. She confers confidence, sympathy, beauty and wisdom on them because all these qualities are within Her.so can there be any doubt in our minds that is peace erself because by giving us all the good things she ensures peace and prosperity in our lives. </div></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-85856285518624236262010-03-23T04:17:00.000-07:002010-03-23T11:51:43.250-07:00Lalitha Sahasranama - 130<div align="justify">130 Satho dhari – She who has a thin belly<br />We come across this in several scriptures when devi's beauty is described.what does it imply are we talking only about the external beauty or is there an inner meaning to it.let us see how scriptures look at it.soundarya lahiri describes her thus:</div><p align="justify"><em>Nisargha ksheenasya sthana thata bharena klamajusho</em></p><p align="justify"><em>Namanmurthe narree thilaka sanakaii –sthrutayatha eva</em></p><p align="justify"><em>Chiram thee Madhyasya thruthitha thatini theera tharuna</em></p><p align="justify"><em>Samavasthaa sthemno bhavathu kusalam sailathanaye</em></p><p align="justify">Oh daughter of the mountain,</p><p align="justify">You who is the greatest among women,</p><p align="justify">Long live your pretty hips,Which look fragile,</p><p align="justify">Which are by nature tiny,Which are strained by your heavy breasts,</p><p align="justify">And hence slightly bent,And which look like the tree,</p><p align="justify">In the eroded banks of a rushing river.</p><p align="justify">Perhaps some of the most enthralling parts of the Lalitha Sahasranama are those, which describe the incredible beauty of the Devi, a Being so dazzling that in one of the opening stanzas, the splendor of her toe nails is described as so radiant that it dispels the darkness of ignorance in the devotees prostrating at Her feet. ‘‘Nakhadidhiti sanchhanna namajjana tamoguna.’’And so, the Lalitha Sahasranama extols Her as Sagara Mekhala, She whose girdle is the sea. Whose shapely nose is like a freshly blossomed Champaka bud. Whose lips outshine the redness of fresh coral and bimba fruit. Whose person is so fragrant with the scent of sandalwood paste that She is Chandanadrava dhighangi, whose smile is so radiant that it floods the mind of Kamesvara, Her consort.Who is sometimes Raktavarna or rosy complexioned, sometimes Shyamabha or of a shining darkness, sometimes Shuklavarna or white complexioned, sometimes even Pitavarna or golden yellow. Her eyes, like the petal of a lotus (Padmanayana) or of a doe (Mrugakshi), are so beautiful that She is Vamanayana and Kamakshi, the beautiful eyed One. Her form is so exquisite (Charurupa) and her smile so charming (Charuhasa), that She is Mohini, the bewitching beauty and Shobana, the radiant beauty.</p><p align="justify">We worship the Goddess Saraswati, one of the Devi’s five avatars (the other four being Durga, Savitri, Lakshmi and Radha) as the Goddess of learning and wisdom. She is Veda-Janani—Mother of the Vedas, who feeds not only our bodies but also our souls as Gyanada—the giver of Supreme Knowledge. She is Gayatri or the Gayatri mantra itself. Without her we would’ve been mute, because She is Gomata—the source of speech. She is Bhasharupa, the embodiment of language. She is Kalavati—the fountainhead, the presiding deity, the very embodiment of all art. She is Kavyakala—the art of poetry. From her springs rhythm and music because She is Layakari. She who is all knowing, has nothing more to know.</p><p align="justify">Perhaps, the Devi’s most beloved aspect is that of the Mother. And so the Lalitha Sahasranama is replete with names for the Devi in her most powerful but most benign aspect — the Divine Mother. Vishvagarbha or She who has the universe in her womb. Brahma-janani — the Mother of everything. Sri Mahi — Mother Earth. Pranada, the Giver of life, Pranesvari, the Queen of all forms of life.We fervently invoke her presence because She is Duhkhahantri, who ends all sorrows, but like a mother, doesn’t stop there and becomes Sukhaprada, enveloping us with peace and joy. There is room for all in her compassionate embrace, because She is Bhedanashini, destroying disparity and because She is Nirbheda — without any differences. Where She is, there is no fear. Because She is Mrutymathani, the destroyer of that terrible fear that haunts all who are born –– the fear of death.She is the mother who guides us through the right path. She is the mother who empowers us because She is Iccha-shakti-Gyana-shakti-Kriya-shakti- Svarupini, the power of will, knowledge and action. In her presence, obstacles melt away because She is Vighna Nashini. In her purifying radiance, we are freed from sin because She is Parampaapanashini. And so, She is Vandaru jana Vatsala — who loves her devotees like a mother. Or then, She is just simply — Mata.</p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"> </p>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-35145198030884209912010-03-18T08:50:00.000-07:002010-03-18T12:31:08.531-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 129<div align="justify">129 Sarat chandra nibhanana – She who has the face like moon in the autumn</div><div align="justify">The same thing is voiced in devi mahamatyam:<br /><em>Ishath sahasam amalam paripoorna chandra<br />Bhibanukari kanakottama kanthi kantham<br />Athyathbutham prahruthamaatharusha thadhapi,<br />Vakthram vilokhya sahasa mahishasurena.</em></div><div align="justify">Gently smiling, pure, resembling the full moon’s orb, beautiful like the<br />splendour of excellent gold was Your face! Yet it was very strange that,<br />being swayed by anger, Mahiasura suddenly struck Your face when he saw<br />it.</div><div align="justify">such is her beauty but is it we compare her to a moon. what is the significance? I ask myself.</div><div align="justify">you will find the same thing echoed in soundarya lahiri as well.</div><div align="justify"><em>Saraj-jyotsna-shuddham sasi-yuta-jata-juta-makutam</em></div><div align="justify"><em>Vara-traasa-traana-sphatika-ghutika-pustaka karaam;</em></div><div align="justify"><em>Sakrn na thva nathva katham iva sathaam sannidadhate</em></div><div align="justify"><em>Madhu-kshira-drakhsa-madhurima-dhurinah phanitayah.</em></div><div align="justify">Sweetest words rivaling the honey, milk and grapes,</div><div align="justify">Can only Come to the thoughts of the devotee,</div><div align="justify">Who once meditates on your face,Which is like the white autumn moon,</div><div align="justify">On your head with a crown with the crescent moon and flowing hair,</div><div align="justify">And hands that shower boons and give protection,</div><div align="justify">Which hold the crystal chain of beads and books.</div><div align="justify">here i have mention about the history behind the verse which i just mentioned.There is always a debate on how adi shankara had written about devi. Adi Sankara's Soundaryalahari is an outstanding work on Devi Parasakthi. The first part of 41 verses called `Aanandalahari' is regarded a `Mantra Sastra' describing the gross and subtle form of Devi and mode of worship of the Divine Mother.<br />The remaining 59 verses contain an exquisite portrayal of the physical form of Devi from head to foot ending with a prayer for Her grace. The very first verse of Soundaryalahari points out that "Sakthi is supreme. Siva is able to create only when He is united with Sakthi. Otherwise Mahadeva cannot even move about!" Adi Sankara adds: "O Lady of the ever-smiling counternance and the limitless virtues".<br />The multicoloured sands found on the beach of Kanyakumari containing Thorium, which generates atomic energy represents the manifestation of the miraculous power of the Supreme. It is a symbolic representation of Sakthi which Adi Sankara describes as the "Matrix of the universe."<br />The life-like image of Devi Kanyakumari with a smiling face is a combination of innocence, purity and beauty. Here Devi who stands alone continues her eternal penance and radiates sanctity all around. The lines in Soundaryalahari which read "O Goddess Jagadambal, you have given me the faculty of speech. I compose this poem in your praise and offer it to you" confirm the view that Adi Sanakra standing at the feet of our Mother India, composed this outstanding work on Devi. There is no Siva shrine in the Devi temple. Adi Sankara exclaimed, "O Mother your right eye being the Sun creates day and your left eye being the Moon creates night". The rising Sun and the setting Sun can only be seen at Kanyakumari. On the full-moon days the rising Moon and the setting Sun can be simultaneously seen only at Kanyakumari and not elsewhere. Chithra Pournami is a scene of beauty par-excellence.<br />Having seen such marvellous environment Adi Sankara compared the right eye of the Devi as Sun and left eye as Moon. In all probability Adi Sankara might have visited Kanyakumari on the full-moon day of Chithirai and the natural beauty of the place, the delightful locale of the holy spot and the divine beauty of Devi Parasakthi at Kanyakumari inspired Adi Sankara to write the monumental work Soundaryalahari. </div><div align="justify">when we talk about the Mother and her beauty we always imagine her to be as cool as a moon and the radiance around her is illuminating and it appears like the dazzling moon.There is a story connecting abirami and the moon which gave rise to abirami ananthi.</div><div align="justify">It is said that Abirama Battar's original name was Subramaniyam. He was a great devotee of mother Abirami. Abirama Battar was a brahmin and a pundit engaged in the vocation of guiding people with the description of days, favourable and unfavourable times for commencing important events etc with the help of an almanac. A very virtuous person who was always lost in the thoughts of Mother Abirami, his speckless devotion attracted the envy of some. They thus to cause trouble for Battar, gave false informations to the then ruling king Saraboji. The king hence asked Battar the description of the day as to whether it was a full moon day or a no moon day. Battar whose mind was lost with Abirami came up with the wrong answer that it was a full-moon day which actually was a no moon day. The king in his fury commanded to slay Battar for coming up with the wrong answer. Hence Battar sat on a suspended platform supported by hundred ropes under which a huge pyre was raised. His only hope was Mother Abirami and his devotion took shape of hundred songs. At the completion of each stanza he cut a rope to end his life at the end of the hundredth song. Mother Abirami's heart melted for his devotion and she delayed not a moment to throw one of her earrings towards the sky that shone as the moon on a no moon day thereby saving the life of Her ardent devotee. Is She not the cooling radiance of the moon that lights our path darkened by despair and delusion? It was from henceforth that the devotee acquired the name Abirama Battar. Abirami Andhadhi is a wonderful composition written in the Andhadhi pattern with the commencing of each para with the ending word of the previous para.</div><div align="justify">கிளியே, கிளைஞர் மனத்தே கிடந்தது கிளர்ந்து ஒளிருமொழியே, </div><div align="justify">ஒளிரும் ஒளிக்கு இடமே, என்னில் ஒன்றும் இல்லாவெளியே, </div><div align="justify">வெளி முதல் பூதங்கள் ஆகி விரிந்த அம்மே!-</div><div align="justify">அளியேன் அறிவு அளவிற்கு அளவானது அதிசயமே…</div><div align="justify">Parrot you are oh mother,Light in the hearts of your devotees, you are,</div><div align="justify">The source of all light you are,Limitless empty space you are,</div><div align="justify">And Mother you are, who looks to us, as nature great,</div><div align="justify">Limitless you are chained in my limited mind, Is this not a great wonder.<br /></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-24616499174938525262010-03-16T04:05:00.000-07:002010-03-16T14:38:00.250-07:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 128<div align="justify">128 Sadhwi – She who is eternally devoted to her husband</div><div align="justify">Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati talks about the secrets of shiva and sakthi thus:</div><div align="justify">Shiva and Shakti are one and the same.<br />There is no place that He is not.There is no place that She is not.They are one and the same.<br />She is in every thing.She is in every word.She is all there is.<br />See Her in all things.Hear Her in all sounds.Know Her in all thoughts.Feel Her in all feelings.She is all there is.<br />She is the one in the three worlds</div><div align="justify">Shiva and Shakti are one and the same.<br />That is the secret.</div><div align="justify">The story of Shiva's marriage is symbolic of the perfect fusion of the male and the female principles which, according to a Hindu view of life, are the moving powers behind the universe. Shiva (the male principle), the Supreme Consciousness, will acquire the power to create and destroy the elements only in conjunction with Shakti ( the female principle). That was why Vishnu and others were keen to see Shiva married. Though the word Shiva rarely occurs in the Vedas (it does in the Yahurveda) there are adequate references to show Rudra(another name for Shiva) as the Supreme Consciousness. The Kenopanishad mentions UMA as the maya or the manifestation of the Supreme Consciousness. The story of Sati brings home to us in simple terms, the truth and beauty of a lofty vedic concept.<br />ati Devi, the wife of Shiva, observed numerous airplanes carrying heavily ornamented beautiful women along with their spouses. Evidently they were all going to attend some festivities. On enquiry it was revealed that her father Daksha had organized a huge Yajna (Vedic sacrifice), and all were invitees going there. Much excited on hearing of the festivities going on at her father's house, she turned to address Shiva:<br />"My Lord, I have heard that your father in law King Daksha has organized a big round of sacrificial festivities at his house. See, all the gods are going there. If you wish, we too can go there. My other sisters will definitely be going there along with their husbands. I too wish to receive the gifts offered by my parents. I am eager to see my mother and aunts gathered there. In addition, we will also able to witness the great Vedic sacrifice conducted by great sages. My dear Lord, you are beyond the vagaries of Nature and hence have no desire to go or meet anyone. However, I am but a poor woman, unaware of these spiritual niceties. I therefore long to see my birthplace. Look at these other women richly adorned and going with their husbands in droves, with their white swan-like airplanes beautifying the skyline."<br />"Dear Lord, which daughter can remain unmoved on hearing of a festival in her father's house? Remember, the scriptures say that one can go uninvited to the houses of their friends, husbands, gurus and parents. Therefore, O' Great Compassionate One, you, who have given me space in half portion of your body, do grant me this desire."<br />Thus earnestly entreated by his beloved wife, Shiva was painfully reminded of the bitter words of his father in law; however, he replied to her with a smile: "O' charming lady, you are right when you say that one can go to one's loved one's even uninvited. However, this is the case only when their viewpoint is not clouded by their powerful ego. Learning, wealth, beauty, high birth etc are exalted qualities in the case of the good, but for the wicked, they are the means of degradation, since they get puffed up with pride and are therefore unable to appreciate the glory of the great. Thinking them to be their 'relatives,' one should never go the houses of those who look upon the visitor with a frown and angry looks."<br />"O'Devi, the arrows of an enemy do not wound one as much as the harsh words of one's crooked relatives because in the former case at least one can find rest in sleep, but the latter suffers day and night with a tormented heart. I know that you are the favorite of your father, even then dear one, you will not get proper attention at your father's house because he is envious and harbors a grudge against me."<br />"O' lady with a slender waist, you may wonder why I did not honor Daksha in that ill-fated assembly? The answer is that those established in the Absolute Truth pay obeisance only to the Supreme Person Vaasudeva enshrined in the heart of all. A pure heart is called Vasudev (father of Krishna), in it is made manifest Vaasudeva (Krishna). Hence, it is to that Absolute Person, who unveils himself in pure hearts do I perform my Namaste. Therefore my beloved, he who abused me even though I was not at fault, even though he is the one who has given birth to your body, you should not consider seeing him because he breeds enmity towards me. If you go there ignoring my advice, it won't bide good for you because when a reputable individual suffers insult from his or her relatives, that indignity becomes the immediate cause of their death."<br />Having said this much Lord Shiva became silent. He realized that whether Devi Sati goes or not, in both cases there was a chance of her giving up her life. Meanwhile Sati, intensely eager to meet her relatives, sometimes went outside the door, and sometimes returned fearing Shiva would get upset. Thus oscillating like a pendulum and undecided she burst out into copious tears and with her body trembling looked askance at Shiva as if to burn him down. Then she lost her judgment and becoming captive of her essentially feminine nature, did the unthinkable. She defied him, who out of affection had given half of his body to her, and taking long breaths set out towards her parents house.<br />Seeing her go alone, several of Shiva's followers set out to accompany her. It was not long before the entourage reached her father's residence, which at that time was reverberating with sacred Vedic Chants. Contrary to her expectations, she was treated with indifference by Daksha. Only her mother and sisters welcomed her openly and embraced her. The rest of the assembly, afraid of upsetting Daksha, made no signs of welcoming her.<br />Devi Sati, not at all welcomed by her father, did not accept the seat of honor respectfully offered to her by her mother and maternal aunts. Nor did she pay attention to her sister's affectionate enquiries about her health etc. Not only that, she observed that in that sacrifice, even though seats had been reserved for the gods, there was none reserved for her husband, the Great Lord Shiva. This greatly agitated Sati and it seemed that she would destroy the world with the fire of her anger. Shiva's followers forming her entourage too observed the dishonor meted out to their master and were about to kill Daksha when they were restrained by Sati. With all the assembled gathering hearing her words, she censured Daksha, her voice faltering with the intensity of her anger:<br />"Father, who else but you would behave inimically towards Lord Shiva, who is above enmity? There is nobody superior to Lord Shiva in the world. He is the beloved soul of all beings, he neither favors nor disfavors anyone. Hence, he has no differences with anyone. Jealous people like you discover faults in the virtues of others. Great people not only do not see any defect, they view the minutest merit in others with a large magnifying glass. You are indeed inauspicious because you hate the supremely auspicious Shiva, whose very name, uttered incidentally by the tongue even once, destroys all sins. The bee-like hearts of eminent sages hover around his lotus feet ever eager to taste the bliss of Brahmananda (bliss of being absorbed in divinity)."<br />"You say that Shiva is Ashiva. Perhaps the other gods do not know this because they feel honored in adorning their heads with flowers fallen from the same Shiva who dwells in the cremation grounds and beautifies himself with ashes and skulls lying there. When unrestrained people criticize the Supreme Lord Shiva, protector of Dharma, one should shut one's ears and leave the place. Or if one has the power he should cut off the tongue of the person, and if the need arise one should even lay down one's life if necessary to prevent such slander."<br />"Therefore, I will not retain this body which is born of you, because wise people say that the remedy for eating impure food is to vomit it out. Vedic injunctions do not apply to those who revel in the Supreme Self enshrined in all. The Vedas prescribe two paths -<br />1). Pravritti Dharma: The path of karma,<br />2). Nivritti Dharma: The path of renunciation.<br />These two cannot be simultaneously followed by the same person. However, Shiva, being the Supreme God, does not need to follow any of these two paths. Father, our affluence is unmanifest, to be enjoyed only by Avadhutas (those who have renounced everything). People like you, following the path of smoke (generated by the sacrificial fires) can never appreciate this absolute wealth. I feel ashamed of my unworthy father. It is a disgrace to be born from a parent who commits an offence against the great. When in a light mood Lord Shiva will call out to me "O' daughter of Daksha", then, forgetting the light-heartedness behind it, I will become extremely pained. Therefore, I shall give up this corpse-like body begotten from you."<br />Having vented her feelings thus, Devi Sati, wearing a yellow garment, sat down on the ground with her face to the north. She closed her eyes and entered the yogic path for casting off her material body. Concentrating on the lotus feet of her beloved Lord Shiva, she became completely absorbed and lost track of everything else. The intense heat of her yogic powers then set ablaze her body, the same body, which at many times, Shiva had lovingly placed in his lap.<br />Immediately there arose in the gathering an enormous uproar of grief: "Alas, provoked by her father, Sati the beloved wife of Shiva has given away her life. Look at the enormous wickedness of Daksha, his pure-hearted daughter who ever deserved honor, had to give up her life due to the insults inflicted by him. This intolerant Daksha will reap great infamy in this world. He did not even care to prevent his daughter while she was preparing to end her life."<br />While the people were thus lamenting, Shiva's attendants who had accompanied Sati, on seeing her miraculous self-immolation, rose with weapons in their hands to kill Daksha. Seeing their aggressive vehemence, Bhrigu, from Daksha's side, created out of the sacrificial fire numerous divine beings who rushed out and drove back the followers of Shiva.<br /><a href="http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/PB56"></a>Soon Shiva learnt of his wife's humiliation and subsequent death. Enraged, he plucked a hair from his matted locks and with a loud laughter dashed it on the ground. Immediately there arose a being of colossal size, touching the skies by his stature. He had sharp fangs and his locks of hair were red like dazzling flames. He was holding aloft various weapons. Shiva then ordered this manifestation of his wrath named Virbhadra, to go and destroy both Daksha and his sacrifice.<br />When the thundering approach of Virbahdra was heard in Daksha's sacrificial ground, the women there murmured amongst themselves: "Surely this is the consequence of the sin committed by Daksha, when he slighted his innocent daughter Sati and also offended Lord Shiva. What good can ensue for someone who enrages Lord Shiva?"<br />Much perturbed and fearful, the assembly in Daksha's sacrifice sat speculating and looking at each other. In the meanwhile Virbhadra, along with other followers of Shiva, reached the venue and immediately set about destroying the Yajna. Some broke the pillars supporting the whole structure, some the sacrificial utensils, and some destroyed the kitchen and storeroom. Many sacrificial fires were put out and supporters of Daksha were threatened. Virabhadra himself caught hold of Daksha and seating himself on his chest tried to cut off his head with a sharp sword. However, even after a lot of effort he was unable to behead him. Much surprised, Virbhadra then proceeded to cut the head of Daksha in the same manner that the latter used to sacrifice animals in his yajnas. As soon as he succeeded, there arose a cry of "well done" "bravo" from amongst the followers of Shiva. Virabhadra then threw Daksha's head into fire and proceeded to burn down the whole structure. Having accomplished what he had been ordered to do, he then returned to Lord Shiva's abode, Mount Kailash.<br />The assembled gods, sages and priests were overwhelmed with fear on thus being defeated by the accomplices of Shiva. They collected together and hurried over to Lord Brahma, requesting his help. Brahma and Lord Vishnu both knew that the Yajna was doomed from the beginning because it had not reserved a place of honor for Lord Shiva. Hence, they had prudently taken the precaution of not attending it. Now hearing all what had happened, Brahma replied to them:<br />"All of you have committed an offence against Lord Shiva by excluding him from the sacrificial offerings. Now with pure hearts go and take refuge in his lotus feet, because he is one who gets propitiated very easily. You should immediately beg his pardon, much bereaved as he is with the loss of his wife's life. Otherwise, his rage is bound to destroy the world."<br />However the gods and sages were still fearful of facing Shiva by themselves. Therefore, Brahma took the initiative and went along with them to Shiva's abode. There they saw Shiva seated with his left foot on his right lap, and his left hand on the left knee. A rosary of Rudraksh was on wrapped around wrist. He was discoursing on the Supreme Absolute Truth, and many saints were listening to him in rapt attention.<br />Seeing Brahma , Lord Shiva immediately sprung to his feet and bowed to him with respect. The host of saints around Shiva also did the same. Brahma then smilingly addressed Lord Shiva:<br />"I know you are the Lord of the Universe (even then you pay homage to me). You yourself have created the institution of Yajna for the protection of Vedic Dharma. Anger cannot overwhelm those who surrender to your lotus feet (then how can it affect you?). Exalted ones like you do not kill even those wicked one who constantly burn with jealousy at the prosperity of others and are naturally disposed to hurt others feelings, knowing very well that they doomed by providence itself. If someone, deluded by Lord Vishnu's powerful Maya, offends the great, righteous ones like you consider the offence an act of providence and do not try to stop whatever is trying to happen."<br />"You are untouched by Maya, you should therefore show grace on those who, affected by maya, are attached to karma. O' Lord, please revive the sacrifice of Daksha, which remained incomplete due to the petty mindedness of those performing it. May Daksha come to live again and may also all those dismembered by your followers be restored to health. O' Shiva, whatever shall remain after the completion of a Yajna from now on will be your share. O' destroyer of sacrifice, let this Yajna now be completed."<br />Lord Shiva heard out Brahma patiently and then replied smiling: "I do not pay attention nor think about the offences committed by people like Daksha, who are under the spell of Lord's Maya. I only chastise them slightly (much less than what their conduct deserves) as a punishment. The head of Daksha has been burnt; he may now live with the face of a goat. All the rest of the priests, sages etc, too may be restored to health."<br />Hearing Shiva's soothing words, all present there were satisfied and shouted out in unison: "Glory to Lord Shiva." Then they cordially invited Shiva to accompany them to the venue of the sacrifice, to which he complied. They followed Shiva's instruction to the letter and joined the head of the sacrificial goat to Daksha's trunk. While the head was being joined, Shiva cast a gracious look at it, and lo! Daksha got up though from sleep and saw Shiva in front of him. He was however not the same Daksha of before. Shiva's compassionate glance on him had purified him, and the same heart which once harbored intense hatred against Shiva, was now restored to its pristine purity like a pool in autumn. He tried to address Shiva but, remembering his deceased daughter, he was overwhelmed with emotion and affection. However, he controlled himself and with a choked throat said:<br /><a href="http://www.exoticindiaart.com/artimages/daksha.jpg"></a>"O' Venerable Lord, Even though I disrespected you, you showed a great favor by meting out a corrective punishment to me. I did not know your essence and hence pierced you with my sharp words in the assembly. However, you compassionate one did not pay heed to my mistake. Due to my offence, I was destined to fall down into dark hells, but you saved me with your compassionate glance."<br />Having thus apologized to Lord Shiva, Daksha then set out to restore the sacrifice, with the help of the priests and sages.</div><div align="justify">Such was the love for shiva that sati gave up her life to makethings right shiva in his own right punished daksha and mourned the death of his wife.Here shiva and sati sets an example of how couples should be devoted to one another.</div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-88458400164564599102010-03-12T03:21:00.000-08:002010-03-12T10:36:22.178-08:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 127<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfeChF-42WS_dCbhN303Mt36A5opZgfo43kd_IRYGVomnCkCqSQVE4XJIhuELLuzES41gDX-ywTrEOB8HX2sUemZUEJN54pI74RhUxv8OROu8zEFdmVkJxRREENYxlnXyqrGaj1gmOqU/s1600-h/astha_lakshmi_.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447817321041703906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 237px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfeChF-42WS_dCbhN303Mt36A5opZgfo43kd_IRYGVomnCkCqSQVE4XJIhuELLuzES41gDX-ywTrEOB8HX2sUemZUEJN54pI74RhUxv8OROu8zEFdmVkJxRREENYxlnXyqrGaj1gmOqU/s320/astha_lakshmi_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">127.Sreekari – She who gives all forms of wealth and happiness</div><div align="justify">When we say she gives all forms of wealth we are speaking of devi as the giver of wealth and prosperity and it can be said it is in the form of lakshmi that we worship,so let us understand her forms and how she showers her love and affection on us.</div><div align="justify">Lakshate sarvah anayaa ithi Lakshmi According to Amarakosha the word Lakshmi etymologically means the goddess who watches over every Man. The details of this Goddess can be obtained from Vyvartha puraana, Devi Bhagavatha and Vishnu Puraana. During the initial stages of creation she was born along with Brahma. That is why Lakshmi and Brahma have a reddish complexion. Shiva and Saraswati were born of a lotus. That is why they have white complexion. Parvati and Narayana were born of another lotus and they have bluish dark complexion. That is why Parvati is called 'Narayani'.</div><div align="justify">Ashta Lakshmi (Aṣṭalakṣmī, lit. "eight Lakshmis") are a group of eight secondary manifestations of the goddess Lakshmi, who preside over eight sources of wealth and thus represent the powers of Shri-Lakshmi. Actually Goddess Mahalakshmi presides over eighteen forms of wealth, but the most popular are the following eight forms of wealth only, which are governed by Ashta Lakshmis as they are most sought after by humans in the mundane and material world. The other ten forms of wealth includes, the eight great siddhis called as AshtaSiddhis, the spiritual knowledge or Gnana and teaching or imparting the spiritual knowledge to the entire world without any class difference. Goddess Mahalakshmi is also known to preside over 16 forms of wordly wealth excluding Ashta siddhis, gnana and imparting gnana. They are as follows: (1) Fame; (2) Knowledge; (3) Courage and Strength; (4) Victory; (5) Good Children; (6) Valor; (7) Gold, Gems and Other Valuables; (8) Grains in abundance; (9) Happiness; (10) Bliss; (11) Intelligence; (12) Beauty; (13) Higher Aim, High Thinking and Higher Meditation; (14) Morality and Ethics; (15) Good Health; (16) Long Life.</div><div align="justify">The eight forms of lakshmi is:</div><div align="justify">Adi Lakṣmi,The First manifestation of Lakshmi<br />Dhanya Lakṣmi,Granary wealth<br />Dhairya Lakṣm,Wealth of courage<br />Gaja Lakṣmi,Elephants, symbols of wealth<br />Santana Lakṣmi,Wealth of continuity, progeny<br />Vijaya Lakṣm,Wealth of victory<br />Vidya Lakṣmi,Wealth of knowledge and education<br />Dhana Lakṣmi,Monetary wealth</div><div align="justify">1. Adi Lakshmi: Mother Lakshmi resides with Lord Narayana in the Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Narayana. She is known as Ramaa, means bringing happiness to the mankind. She is also known as Indira (who holds lotus or purity in the hands or heart.) Divine Mother’s this form is normally seen serving Sri Narayana. Lord Narayana is omnipresent. Adi Lakshmi or Ramaa Lakshmi serves Sri Narayana is symbolic of her serving the whole creation. Though Sri Narayana is attended by innumerable devotees, still she personally loves to serve the Lord. Actually mother Adi Lakshmi and Narayana are not two different entities but one only. Many a place we see her form sitting in the lap of Sri Narayana. </div><div align="justify">2. Dhanya Lakshmi: Dhanya means grains. This includes all kind of purified food containing all essential vitamins, minerals, protein, calcium, carbohytrade and so on. With the grace of mother Dhanya Lakshmi one gets all essential nutrients grains, fruits, vegetables and other foods.</div><div align="justify">3. Dhairya Lakshmi: This form of mother Lakshmi grants the boon of infinite courage and strength. Those, who are in tune with infinite inner power, are always bound to have victory. Those who worship mother Dhairya Lakshmi they live and lead a life with tremendous patience and inner stability. </div><div align="justify">4. Gaja Lakshmi: In the holy book of Srimad Bhagavata the story of the churning of the ocean by Gods and demons is explained in detail. Author, the Sage Vyasa writes that Lakshmi came out of the ocean during the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan). So she is known as a daughter of the ocean. She came out of the ocean sitting on a full-bloomed lotus and also having lotus flowers in both hands with two elephants by her sides, holding a beautiful vessels filled with milk and pouring it over Sri Lakshmi. Many a time we see Sri Lakshmi standing in the lotus and elephants are pouring nectar over her. During the festival of the lamps or the Deepavali along with Sri Lakshmi the Ganapati or the Elephant God also gets worshipped; that signifies the protection from evils as well as abundant grace and blessings for additional prosperities! </div><div align="justify">5. Santan Lakshmi: In the family life, the children are the greatest treasure. Those who worship this particular form of Sri Lakshmi, known as a Santan Lakshmi, are bestowed with the grace of mother Lakshmi and have wealth in the form of desirable children with good health & long life. 6. Vijay Lakshmi: Vijay is victory. Vijay is to get success in all undertakings and all different facets of life. Some are strong physically but weak mentally while others are economically rich but poor in their attitude and cannot exert any influence. Vijay is to have all encompassing victory. Vijay is to rejoice glory of our real nature – Vijay is to conquer the lower nature. Vijay is the victory in external and internal wars and of course eternal wars! Hence those, with grace of mother Vijay Lakshmi, have victory everywhere, at all time, in all conditions. Victory to Vijay Lakshmi !! </div><div align="justify">7. Dhana Lakshmi: Dhana is wealth. But as per Rigved’s Purush Shukta Dhana is not only a wealth in coins and currency. Even Sun and moon, fire and stars, rains and nature, oceans and mountains, rivers and streams, all these are our wealth, so are the progeny, our inner will power, our character and our virtues. With the grace of mother Dhana Lakshmi we will get all these in abundance. </div><div align="justify">8. Vidya Lakshmi: Vidya is education. Serenity, Regularity, Absence of Vanity, Sincerity, Simplicity, Veracity, Equanimity, Fixity, Non-irritability, Adaptability Humility, Tenacity, Integrity, Nobility, Magnanimity, Charity, Generosity and Purity are the eighteen qualities imbibed through proper education that only can give immortality.</div><div align="justify">It must be kept in mind that the type of Ashta Lakshmis differ with every yuga and thus one would not find uniformity in the names of Ashta lakshmis in Hindu sacred texts. Actually speaking there are more than crores of manifestations of Mahalakshmi and without Goddess Mahalakshmi nothing in this world would survive as She forms the basis of the entire gamut of creation. Without her grace there will be nothing to eat, no air to breath, no progeny in continuation etc. At a minor level, one cannot survive without monetary wealth in this wide world, if one has not developed spiritualism. Even if one were to beg, one would not get even a dime without the grace of Goddess Mahalskhmi. It is only through the grace of Goddess Mahalakshmi that even King of Gods Devandra, gained wealth, when he was cursed by the famous Sage Dhurvasa for disrespecting the garland offered to him.<br />Goddess Mahalkshmi is also said to exist in several other forms. The most famous amonsgt them are 1. Sridevi, 2. Bhoodevi, and 3. Neeladevi. The famous Vaishnavite Saint Aandaal who was born in Srivilliputhur about 5050 years ago is an incarnation of Goddess Mahalakshmi Herself. Goddess Sridevi represents moveable assets, while Goddess Bhoodevi represents immoveable assets. Actually moveable assets in Sanskrit is called Chanchala, while immoveable is called Achanchala. It is only because of this mountains are prefixed with Achanachala in India, eg, Arunachala, Himachala etc. The term Chanchala also denotes fickleness and that is why we do not find people always wealthy. Everything in this world operates only with the grace of Goddess Mahalakshmi.</div><div align="justify">Once Shreeya, an untouchable woman, worshipped Goddess Lakshmi by observing Manabasa Gurubar or lakshmi puja festival. Being moved by her devotion, Lakshmi left her permanent abode, the temple that is situated inside the campus of the temple of Lord Jagannatha, and visited Shreeya's house. When Lord Balabhadra, the elder brother of Lord Jagannatha, came to know about this, she was declared defiled and was not allowed to come back into the temple. Lakshmi was deeply hurt and went to her father, Sahara.<br />When Lakshmi went out of the temple, all wealth in the temple started vanishing. Later, the Gods Balabhadra and Jagannatha could not find food to sustain themselves. They came out of the temple in the attire of Brahmin beggars in search of food. Ultimately, they landed at the door of the Goddess Lakshmi. Balabhadra apologised for the mistake, and all of them returned to the temple.<br />The Purana ultimately teaches all to pay extreme regard to Goddess Lakshmi, and the person who disregards her is sure to fall on evil days. This means that wealth should be well protected and properly used, and misutilisation of wealth is sure to make a person suffer.</div><div align="justify">There are innumerable Slokas in praise of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Some of the most famous prayers for worshipping Goddess Mahalakshmi are: Sri Lakshmi Sahasaranama Sthothra by Sanathkumara, Sri Stuti By Sri Vedantha Desikar, Sri Lakshmi Stuti by Indra, Sri Kanakadhara Sthothra by Sri Aadhi Shankaracharya, Sri Chatussloki by Sri Yamunacharya, Sri Lakshmi Sloka by Bhagavan Sri Hari Swamiji and Sri Sukta which is contained in the Vedas. The famous Lakshmi Gayathri Sloka " Om Mahalakshmichae Vidmahe sri Vishnupathinichae Dhi-Mahi Thanno Lakshmi Prachodayat" is a powerful prayer contained in the Vedic Sri Sukta, which when chanted everyday 108 times is known to grace the chanter with immediate grace of the Goddess within 90 days.<br />There is another famous prayer pronounced by the great sage Agastua:Agastya Lakshmi Storta. Although Mother Lakshmi is worshipped as the goddess of fortune, when she is worshipped with Narayana, the worshipper is blessed with not only wealth but also peace and prosperity. They can be worshipped in various forms, such as Lakshmi Narayana, Lakshmi Narasimha, Sita Rama,Radha Krishna or Vithal Rukmini. </div><br /><div align="justify"></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8043785050873104081.post-23806007436475206552010-03-09T02:06:00.000-08:002010-03-09T04:10:39.167-08:00Lalitha Sahasranamam - 126<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TTPww7TyJLs9IRGz9npFHBQTNUKpCR3xSyloxvWGIUW6iQw-ATsZC0l1IzZoiXdU3ZdK0rl47Zp5B70hVHDssgeBnH7MUDO5wOqVxHxNrxSBzLzTfhwHND6Q7q2IWKfBLPh7Kkr5KLA/s1600-h/thirumananjeri.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446602968740421410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 236px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TTPww7TyJLs9IRGz9npFHBQTNUKpCR3xSyloxvWGIUW6iQw-ATsZC0l1IzZoiXdU3ZdK0rl47Zp5B70hVHDssgeBnH7MUDO5wOqVxHxNrxSBzLzTfhwHND6Q7q2IWKfBLPh7Kkr5KLA/s320/thirumananjeri.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">126 Sankari – She who is the consort of Sankara</div><div align="justify">Shiva and sakthi marriages are celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. The concept of marriage is stressed.</div><div align="justify"> Parvathy wanted to marry Shiva in an earthly marriage with all religious rites on the earth; To bless the devout multitude on earth Lord Shiva and Parvathi got married in five different types. The celestial wedding that took place and was performed according to the sastras followed by human beings.</div><div align="justify">When Shiva and Parvathi were in a happy mood in their abode in MT Kailash a strange idea struck Parvathi. Instead of the usual fight that separates the couple after which they unite in wedlock , Parvathi thought it correct and logical to request Shiva to marry her another time.Parvathi requested Shiva to marry her again which he accepted with joy and also informed the time of their wedding. Parvathi became impatient as there was a fairly long time for the marriage. She became callous and cold shouldered Shiva.Shiva watched her behavior and in a fit of anger cursed her to be separated from him and take the form of a cow. Parvathi incarnated as a cow and roamed in the jungle. She was always thinking of her spouse while loitering in Asukadau( forest) he divine cow -Parvathi spotted a Lingam and showered it with milk from its udder. Shiva was overjoyed to see the devotion of his consort.Shiva happy with Parvathi’s (cow)deeds and granted Mukthi to her Thiruvavaduthurai. He was contemplating as to how Parvathi could be born on earth so that he can marry her quickly.Bharatha Maharishi was conducting a yaga and Shiva thought it apt to make Parvathi appear from the yaga kundam. Thus a divine damsel emerged from the yaga kundam and the sage Bharatha was happy to see her and considered as a holy girl. He was worried about finding a suitable groom for her. The Lord appeared in his dream and assured him that he -Shiva would marry her as she is none other than Parvathi. Shiva also wished that the sage should perform the wedding in a grand mannerLord Shiva appeared in the dream of Sage Bharatha, that he will enter into wedlock with the celestial who appeared from Sage Kundam.Thus the Sage meticulously looked after the wedding arrangements. The divine wedding took place in Thirumananjeri which was witnessed by celestial beings. Since the Thirumanam (Wedding) took place at Thirumananjeri, this place is called Thirumananjeri.</div><br />Once Devendra (King of Gods, also known as 'Indra') had killed a demon name "Vruddha' when he was in 'samadhi'state of yoga. Though this demon had not harmed in any way or troubled anyone, Devendra killed him just to earn name and fame of killing demon, and just to add number to his list of killing demons. One should not kill or speak or disturb those who are in meditation or yoganidra. Even those who are asleep, one should not wake them suddenly. Nidra (sleep) is a gift. Because 'indriyas' get tired and hence they sleep to relieve the tension. It is good to sleep only during night times and not in the afternoon. Because Indra killed this demon who was in yoganidra, he became accursed, lost his 'tejas' and becoming a sinner he came down and kept wandering .Indra, wandering here and there he comes to a forest viz. Kadamba in the country of Pandya. He sees a tree. As soon as he came to the shelter of that tree, the trouble/the suffering he was having in his body left him immediately, he became alright and all sins got destroyed. He was wondering at this and looked around and he sees a Shivalinga and he prays to Shiva. Swamiji sings 'Namah Parvathi Pathaye Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambho'.<br />After worshipping Shiva, he builts a small temple for that Shivalinga, in gratitude for getting his sins destroyed at the sight of that Shivalinga. Then he leaves. Seven miles away from this place, a small city called'Manavur' Pandya king was ruling. A rich merchant who belonged to that Manavur, named Dhananjaya on his business tour passes through this forest and sees this special Shivalinga and wondering how this new shivalinga came there, he comes and tells about it to Pandya King. The King's name was Kulashekara. As the King was thinking of this, he had a dream and Lord Shiva gives Darshan in the dream and asks him to build a big temple for that Shivalinga in Kadambavana. The King builts a temple around it and also builds a big beautiful city and shifts his residence there itself, naming that city as Madhura. And a few days after worshipping Shiva he gets a child named "Malayadhwaja'. He gives his king dom to his son and he leaves for tapas. Malayadhwaja was a Shiva devotee as well as Shakti devotee. After sometime, as he did not have progeny, Malayadhwaja along with his wife Kanchanamala performs a Yaga. In the middle of that great yaga, a three year old girl comes out of the fire. The child was 'Ayonija' (means that which was not born out of the womb) . It had three breasts. An he was afraid seeing this foreseeing something bad for the country. As he was thinking like this, he hears a "Ashareeravani" (words were heard from above the sky) "Don't fear. Whatever has taken place is for good only. You bring up this child like a man. Whatever education and training is given for a man, all such education may be given to this child.<br />Whoever sees this girl and when She sees the man who is to be her husband, the third breast will disappear. Everything will be auspicious. You will join the Devathas." Further nothing was heard. After sometime, since She had the eyes like fish (Meena) she was called Meenakshi. She grew to be a very beautiful young woman. Only three breasts she had. She had great powers. She was a staunch Shiva devotee and worshipped Him daily. Like a man she ruled the country herself after her father's demise. She protected the country and the people herself. She goes to Himalya and visits Kailasa where she had darshan of Lord Shiva. As soon as she sees Shiva, the third breast will disappear. After the third breast disappeared, she realised that Shiva was her husband. Mother is always fulfiller of wishes. This Mother who is now in the form of Meenakshi, who has come to uplift Pandya king and is looking after the Madhura city, She requests Shiva saying that you are my husband, you are my 'pati''gati' and 'mati' (i.e. I have surrendered to you and you have to show me way). Then Shiva asks Her to leave to her city and He promised that He would come to Her city within 7 days. And as promised He goes to Madhura on the 7th day. This Shiva is called 'Sundareshwara'. He is very beautiful.Sundareswara comes to Madhura and the marriage of Meenakshi and Sundareswara takes place in the city of Madhura. All the Devathas were present of the marriage occasion. Vishnu Himself looks after the marriage preparation and He gives Her in marriage to Sundareswara (Lord Vishnu is the younger brother of Devi,Mother Goddess).<br />In the meantime, Maharshis, Patanjali and Vyghrapada also come to witness the marriage. At the time of serving the food after the marriage, these two yogis refuses to take food. Till they saw the dance in the Chidambara in the Kanaka sabha, they did not want to take food. Then Lord Shiva says that He will show the dance here itself. Then the great wonderful dance of Lord Sundareswara in the Sannidhi (presence) of Meenakshi, take place in that temple. All were happy and blissful. Then after the marriage, food in large quantities are left over. Then Meenakshi asks Shiva as t o what should be done with the left over food. Then Shiva calls one of His Gana called Kundodara. He eats all the food and he says he is still feeling hungry and wants more. For his sake, Shiva creates a river, Ganga river itself. Then Kundodara satisfies with the water of Ganga<br />Then one day Meenakshi's Mother expresses her wish to take bath in the 7 seas (saptha samudra). Then Shiva brings the 7 seas here itself. The Shiva says" I will call your father-in-law also and let him also have bath." The King and father of Meenakshi who had died already, was called by Lord Shiva and the King takes bath in the 7 seas and Shiva bestows 'Moksha' on him and her mother.. They both will stay here on the earth in the human form and Sundareswara also rules the Kingdom of Pandya. Lord Kumaraswamy, with his 'Amsa' is born to Meenakshi and Sundareswara, but was born as 'Ayonija' (not from the womb). He is the first progeny and carries the lineage of Pandya king. After sometime, Lord Sundareswara, merges in the Shivalinga and Meenakshi to bless all the devotees stays there in the idol form. This is the story. In the meanwhile, one Serpent, elephant and a cow come to test them. They were cursed and were transformed as 3 hills around the city of Mdhura. These three hills are called "Anemalai', "Nagamali' and "Pashumalai". So Even today Meenakshi stays there in the idol form blessing all the devotees.<br />"Srimatsundara Nayikam, Bhayaharam, Jnanapradam Nirmalam<br />Syamambam, Kamalasanarchita padam Narayanasyanujam<br />Veena Venu murdanga vadya rasikam nana viradambikam<br />Meenaksheem Pranathosmi Santhathamaham Karunyavaraam nidhim"<br />Verses from Scripture on Marriage:<br />May the Provident One lead you, holding your hand! May the two Ashvins transport you on their chariot! Enter your house as that household's mistress. May authority in speech ever be yours! Signs of good fortune attend the bride. Congregate, one and all, to see her! Wish her joy and return to your homes.<br />Rig Veda 10.85.26 & 33. VE, 255-256<br />We offer praise to the Friend, the kindly marriage arranger. Like one who plucks a cucumber, I release you from here, not from yonder. Love, children, happiness and wealth will come to answer your hopes. Devoted to your husband's needs, be girded for immortality!<br />Atharva Veda 14.1.17 &42. VE, 259<br />Here do I fix my dwelling. May it stand firm, flowing with melted butter! May we approach you, O House, with all our people, sound in heart and limb. Here do you stand, firm dwelling, rich in horses and cattle, pleasantly resounding, wealthy in food abundant, ghee and milk. Stand erect for great good fortune!<br />Atharva Veda 3.12.1-2. ve, 288-289<br />May Prajapati grant to us an issue, Aryaman keep us till death in holy marriage! Free from ill omens, enter the home of your husband. Bring blessing to both humans and cattle. Not evil-eyed nor harmful to your husband, kind to dumb beasts, radiant, gentle-hearted, pleasing, beloved by the Gods, bring forth heroes. To menfolk and beasts alike bring blessing. Bless now this bride, O bounteous Lord, cheering her heart with the gift of brave sons. Grant her ten sons; her husband to make the eleventh.<br />Rig Veda 10.85.43-44. VE, 257<br />Act like a queen to your husband's father, to your husband's mother likewise, and his sister. To all your husband's brothers be queen.<br />Rig Veda 10.85.46. VE, 257<br />I hold your heart in serving fellowship; your mind follows my mind. In my word you rejoice with all your heart. You are joined to me by the Lord of all creatures. You are firm and I see you. Be firm with me, O flourishing one! Brihaspati has given you to me, so live with me a hundred years bearing children by me, your husband.<br />Paraskara Griyha Sutra 1.8.8; 19. VE, 263-264<br />The Lord brings us riches, food in daily abundance, renown and hero sons to gladden our hearts. So, like a father to his sons, be to us easy of entreaty. Stay with us, O Lord, for our joy.<br />Rig Veda 1.1.3 & 9. VE, 329<br />May our minds move in accord. May our thinking be in harmony -- common the purpose and common the desire. May our prayers and worship be alike, and may our devotional offerings be one and the same.<br />Rig Veda 10.191.3. RVP, 4739<br />With seven steps we become friends. Let me reach your friendship. Let me not be severed from your friendship. Let your friendship not be severed from me.<br />Hiranyakeshi Griyha Sutra 1.6.21.2.; VE, 263<br />The gift of a daughter, after decking her with costly garments and honoring her by presents of jewels, to a man learned in the Veda and of good conduct whom the father himself invites, is called the Brahma rite.<br />Manu Dharma Shastras 3.27. LM, 80<br />Endowed with the qualities of beauty and goodness, possessing wealth and fame, obtaining as many enjoyments as they desire and being most righteous, they will live a hundred years.<br />Manu Dharma Shastras 3.40. LM, 82<br />Women must be honored and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands and brothers-in-law, who desire their own welfare. Where women are honored, there the Gods are pleased. But where they are not honored, no sacred rite yields rewards.<br />Manu Dharma Shastras 3.55-56. LM, 85<br />The foremost duty of family life is to serve duly these five: God, guests, kindred, ancestors and oneself. When family life possesses love and virtue, it has found both its essence and fruition.<br />Tirukural 43; 45. WW<br />Father and mother are Siva. Dear brothers and sisters are Siva. Matchless wife is Siva. Precious children are Siva. Rulers and kings are Siva. All the Gods are Siva. The whole universe is Siva.<br />Natchintanai, "All Is Siva" NT, 237<br /><br /><br /></div>Ashahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029460556769761672noreply@blogger.com