Category: A05 — THOUGHTS ON RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL ISSUES

” Sarvadapaani charanae, sarvodokshi siro mukhae,
Sarvadasravana khraanae, Narayani, namosthuthae”
The A wonderful image of the Paraskathi for meditation.
Recall the’ Sahasraseersha purusha: sahsrakksha saharapaad’ image of the Supreme Purusha:
and
“Anekha bahoodara vaktra nethram –‘ of the Viswaroopam in the Bagavath Gita.
Such a Universal Supreme Force, we are trying to confine into small idols, during the Navaratri festival and worship, as our power of imagination is limited.
Transcending time and space, the Universal mother , stands above and beyond everything in the world but at the same time, abides in every moving and unmoving thing, nay SHE IS every moving and unmoving thing.
Let us worship Her in small or big statues at home or in  temples, but also  look at the vast sky, crowding clouds, shining sun, moon and stars and try to see the Viswaroopam .
When we realize that verily we are a part of THAT, nay, WE ARE THAT, we achieve the purpose of our life.

”Anantha Padmanabham aasrayae,
Aadimadyaantha rahitham, akhilasubha daayakam , Sree Nayakam,
Anantha Padmanabham aasrayae”
(Swathi Thirunal)
A great masterpiece it is ! The concept of the One, ‘kaladesavadibhyam ( beyond time and place), with no beginning, middle or end, reclining in absolute peace, though in a wavy ocean, though on a multi-hooded serpent, a tender lotus-stem evolved from the naval projecting a lotus flower carrying the god of creation. The Earth and wealth are at His feet. The Sun and the Moon are His eyes.
The bliss on meditating on the form of Ananthapadmanabha is anantham, endless.
On the other hand, if you take Ananthasayanam, literally, you have to answer several uncomfortable questions:
How can there be an ocean of milk? Will fish survive in milk ?
How can Vishnu lie on a bed of serpent? How can an umbilical chord grow from his naval, as He is a male?
How can the four-headed Brahma stay on a lotus seat, precariously positioned on a long stem ?
What happened to Brahma when Vishnu turns to a side?
How do people approach the God to serve him morning tea, breakfast, lunch etc?
Why make our life miserable with all such worries, when Vishu himself is not worried but enjoys His life with all the discomforts ?.
Another form of amazing artistic talent is the Shiva-Sakthi union, the samayogam of Jagadapithrah: in the Lingam-yoni, form, representing the entire male -female combination, nay the symbol of the universe itself.. Whenever I pour milk on the Shivalingam I see in the bottom part the hands of the Divine mother, receiving the ablution and passing it on slowly to the mother earth. I dread to imagine the top of the Lingam as flat ; I dread to imagine the Lingam standing alone on the earth without the support of its lotus-like lower part. The lower part, staying alone, will be barren, meaningless..
All the divine forms handed over to us have a purpose, have a symbolic value. If we study and understand the meaning, the joy is immeasurable.
As Bhatahthiripad said,” Sruti,mathi,madurae sugrahae thasmin thae vigrahae danyaha: ramanthae”
The fortunate ones, enjoy your easily conceivable form, which is ‘sruti,mathi maduram’ sweet to hear and meditate upon

Comments

i enjoyed reading this article…on a similar note is there anybody who can help in a peculiar situation.
i know a little boy who refuses to eat any rice or any good food..he sort of hates rice n homecooked food..this has happenedd suddenly.
anger also sets in as a result.can some elders suggest any remedy if theres any…
any prayer or maybe something which seems elusive to the parents please…
[email protected]

Friends,

Sometime ago when, in one of my posts, I mentioned Sree Aanjaneyaswamy as a mahayogi, my respected senior Brahmashri. ————- was not happy. I was wondering why.
After all,  Hanuman, though had no wings, could fly across  a vast ocean like a huge bird, shrink his body to the size of his thumb and enter  the mouth of a woman, come out of her interior without a bruise, then bring his body to its original size, all this, while crossing the sea, then return with his long tail fully torched but without getting a burn, again cross the waters carrying  a mountain and return with the mountain to place it back at the original place ! If not a yogi who could do such wonders ?
In the recent two posts Sri. —– is repeatedly calling Hanuman as an Ape -God (he was an ape and he was a god no doubt, but when you repeatedly mention him by that name, it doesn’t sound respectable; and Hanuman was a respectable living being ). Anna also ridicules that by worshiping Hanuman, we are only paying him a bribe seeking his  ‘siparsai’ or recommendation to approach Lord Sree Rama.
Something has definitely gone wrong between the master scholar and the master monkey.  Obviously the vadai-malai for the vaal of the Suchindram Mruthi has not worked !
In Vaarnasi, there is a famous Hanuman temple. In fact there are temples for Hanuman all over India and in Andra  pradesh, every other rock you see in the open will have a red-painted -idol of the monkey- god carved in it. People worship with great bakthi and when they do it, not a single Hindu consider their worship as a bribe for a ‘siparsai’ . Even an illiterate Hindu widow in a remote village, who has zero knowledge in scriptures or epics other than the story of Ramayanam heard from her mother during her childhood, knows the importance of Hanuman and worship him purely due to devotion and not for ‘siparsai’. That does not mean that she worship only Hanuman.
As popular as Hanuman, is the Hanuman chalisa, especially in the northern part of our country. It stands on the same pedestal of our Narayaneeyam or Adyathma Ramyanam in Kerala. My daughter in law, a Palakkad Iyer girl, raised in Lucknow, observes fasting during the Navarathry  when she reads Chalisa during all the nine days with utmost bakthi. In the Greater Baltimore temple here , we had a mass recitation and in one of my articles I have mentioned about it. Hanuman is not the main deity there .
Chalisa is a revered religious book and it is not to be condemned as some one’s  dreamed- up product.
Now, coming to the role of Hanuman in the great epic, I consider that the most important character after Sree Rama is not Baratha or Ravana or even Sree Sita . It is Hanuman; yes it is the ‘Ape- God’. Valmiki introduces him in the Aaranya kantam , allots a full kantam out of the total six, for him and in the Yudha kantam, he is shown at the peak of his glory when he saves the life of Lakshmana and later that of Bharatha, another brother of his master.
No one is as big as Hanuman in the Sowndarya kantam. Valmiki is lavish in his narration of this character. His poetic imagination fully blossoms in this kantam and it is a verbal feast , every slokam, flying like a peacock in its full colours or swimming like a swan in its pristine purity. The glory of the hero of the kantam is sung right from the from the second slokam :
துஷ்கரம் நிஷ்பதித்வன்த்வம் சிகீர்ஷன்கர்ம வானர:
ஸமுதக்ர சிரோக்ரீவோ கவாம் பதிரிவாபபௌ
Meaning:பிறரால் செய்ய முடியாததும் நிகர்ற்றதுமான காரியத்தை செய்ய விரும்பி ஸ்ரீ ஹனுமார் கழுத்து தலை இவைகளை உயர த்தூக்கி பசுக்களின் கூட்டத்தில் நிமிர்ந்த தலையுடன் நிற்கும் காளை போல் விளங்கினார் . Keeping his head and neck straight and high, Hanuman stood like a bull among the crowd of cows, ready to perform a unique task which none else could do. (What a beautiful simile !.Many times, I remember Kalidasa, while reading Sundara kantam )
Rama was a king, without a crown or a kingdom or even an army. Hanuman, maneuvered and  made available and placed at the disposal of Rama a mighty army which could construct a bridge across the sea and conquer the enemy. In the entire plethora of divine characters in our epics, there is none to supersede Hanuman, in wisdom, physical strength, mental power to think cool, act swiftly, advice aptly and talk intelligently . And no other assistant could  serve his master as efficiently and faithfully as Hanuman did.
Now coming to the statement that “he was a fellow-Raama-bhaktha, along with us. And a marvelous one ”-What is there to worship in a fellow -disciple? Swamy sarnam. No answer!
But let me tell you that the  worship of Hanuman is sanctioned by no less a  scripture than ‘Skantham’ . Here is the procedure suggested before doing the paaraayanm ie  reading seven sargams, chapters from the Sundarakantam every day, to achieve the required result. My attempt is only to show that Hanuman worship is sanctioned. Whether you worship him or not is not my concern. I do. That does not mean that I worship only him .
“ஸ்ரீ ஸ்காந்தத்தில் ஸ்ரீ சுந்தரகாண்ட மாஹாத்ம்யம் – ஸப்த ஸர்க பாராயண  க்ரமம் – Sundarakanta maahatmyam- Saptha sarga parayana kramam as given in skaantham:
ஒரு நல்ல நாளில் விதிவத்தாய்   ஸங்கல்பித்து ஸ்ரீ ராமர், ஸ்ரீ சீதை, ஸ்ரீ லக்ஷ்மணர்,  ஸ்ரீ ஆஞ்சநேயர்  இவர்களின் பிரதிமைகளை சக்திக்கு தகுந்தபடி ஸ்வர்ணத்தாலோ, வெள்ளியாலோ, தாம்ப்ரத்தாலோ செய்து முறைப்படி பிரதிஷ்டை செய்து  பூஜிக்கவேண்டும் . இவைகளை செய்ய அவகாசம் இல்லாவிடில்  கூற்ச்திலாவது பிரதிஷ்டை செய்து பூஜிக்க வேண்டும்”
On an auspicious day, the idols of Sree Rama, Sree Sita, Sree Lakshmana and Sree Anjaneyar are to be properly installed as per the prescribed method ( dhyana, aavhanam etc) and worshiped. These idols can be of gold, silver or copper and if there is no facilities for installing  idols, the pradishtai can be done on ‘koortcham’
“பாராயணத்துக்கு முன் தியானம் செய்ய வேண்டிய ஸ்தோத்ரம்கள் : Stotras to be recited before the Sundarakanta paarayanam :
1.ஸ்ரீ விநாயக த்யானம்– Sree Vinayaka dyanam
2. ஸ்ரீ சரஸ்வதி பிரார்த்தனை– Sree Saraswathi prarthanai
3. ஸ்ரீ வால்மீகி ஸ்துதி- Sree Valmiki stuthi
4.ஸ்ரீ ஆஞ்சநேய ஸ்தோத்ரம் – Sree Anjaneya stotram-Goshpathee kritha vaarasim———vathathmakam vaanaarayootha mukhyam Sree Ramdootham sirasa namaami
கோஷ்பதீ கிருத வாராசிம், மசகீக்ரித்த ராக்ஷஸம்— வாதாத்மகம் வானரயூத முக்கியம் ஸ்ரீராம தூதம் சிரஸஆ நமாமி
5. ஸ்ரீ இராமாயண  பிரார்த்தனை- Sree Ramayana prarthanai
6. ஸ்ரீ ராம தியானம்                        Sree Rama dyanam
7.ஸ்ரீ ஹனுமத் தியானம் :- Sree Hanumat dyanam
ஸர்வாரிஷ்டநிவாரகம் சுபகரம் பின்காக்ஷமக்ஷாபஹம், சீதான்வேஷண தத்பரம் கபிவரம் கோடீன்ற சூர்யா பிரபம்
லன்காட்வீப பயங்கரம் ஸகலதம்  சுக்ரீவ  ஸம்மான்விதம், தேவேன்றாதி சமஸ்த தேவ வினுதம் காகுஸ் ததூதம்   பஜே ”
So next time when you stand before a Hanuman idol don’t feel shy- you are not there to pay a bribe! And don’t ask me the next question- he will not say ‘give me a seat along with my Lord’
And the next  observation, “devotees in Shivan temples ducking under the iron railings surrounding the stone statue of Nandi the sacred Bull facing the main Shiva sannidhi — to whisper into the Bull’s stone year”- I am really sad that he made such a sarcastic  remark about the bull’s stone ear. Does he mean that the ear of the deity inside the temple is live with blood, nerves and skin and only that of the bull outside is that of stone. Is it so with the vilwam tree in the temple premises which you circumambulate, ‘moolatho Brahma roopaya, madhyatho Vishnuroopinae, Agratho Sivaroopaya—–?’ Is it so with the disc of the Mahavishnu which is worshiped as chakrathazvar, ‘Jaya jaya sree sudarsana, jaya jaya sree sudarshana ‘ and dipped in the swamipushkarini along with the idol of the Lord of seven hills? Is it again so, with the kalasam and khantam which you worship first before starting your pooja, your forehead, chest and hands lavishly lined with white marks, ‘ kalasasya mukhe vishnu, khante Rudra— ……?. Is it so with the chariot you pull across the streets of your village accompanied by pipers and percussionists ? Is it so with the framed picture of Mahaganapathy we keep in a corner in the kalyanapandal ? Is it so with the flag post, kodimaram, before the sanctum of a temple, before which you prostrate?
Even a pinch of dust in the temple premises is sacred, of course if you consider temple a sacred place. And they say a nandi, a bull with stone ear, moved sidewise , on its own, for the sake of a pious man, who was not able to see the Lord as the animal was obstructing the vision.  Whom are they trying to fool ? How will a stone bull move ? Even live bulls are not moving unless you give a bribe of a handful of fodder.
This is belief. Untu entral untu; illaya illai- simple, Sir.
And where is the question of above or below among the gods ? Is there seniority list or grading among the gods ? “A monkey -god above all others __?'” who said so ?  Some like Hanuman and they worship him; some like Kathavaraayan or karuppayi, they worship them. You cannot say only  Sree Rama and Sree Krishna are. For you it might be so; for me there are ‘muppathu mukkodi thevalum indranum, mummorthikalum veda brahmanaalum’
Our great, great grand pa did not have this problem. His gods were natural elements, Vayu and Varuna,  air and water etc. He could see the supreme Divinity as Vishnu, a force with bramanam or sancharanam covering the entire universe and manifesting as fire on the earth and as  sun and lightning above and all over.

ഇദം വിഷ്ണുര്‍ വിചക്രമെ ത്രേധാ നിദധെ  പദം
സമുള്‍ ഹമസ്യ  പാമ്സുരെ .
ത്രീണി പദാ വിച ക്രമെ
വിഷ്ണുര്ഗോപാ അദാഭ്യ:
അധോ ധര്മാണി   ധാരയന്‍
Idam Vishnur vichakramae threadha nidhathe padam
Samulhamasya pagumsurae
Thrinee padaa vichakramae
Vishnur gopaa adabhya:
Ado dharmaani dhaarayan
or
ഇന്ദ്രം മിത്രം വരുണ മഗ്നി മാഹു –
രഥോദിവ്യസ്സ സുപര്ണോ ഗരുത്മാന്‍
ഏകം സദ്വിപ്രാ  ബഹുദാ വദന്തി
അഗ്നിം യമം മാതരിശ്വാനമാഹു :
Indram, Mitram, Varunam, Agnim, aahu-
radhodivyassa suparno garutmaan
Eakam sat vipra bahuda vadanthi
Agnaim, yamam, maadariswanamaahu:
Meaning : This God is called Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni , Garuda.
It is eakam and sat- The learned call it by different names
Agni, Vayu, Yaman etc.

ഋഗ്വേദം : Rigvedam
Several years ago, Appa was admitted in the hospital with a serious health problem and Amma was told about that. She didn’t say a word.  Silently walked towards the tulsi plant near the well, spread the corner of her nine yards sari and with swollen eyes and sunken face, begged to that small plant  : ” Thayea, maangalya pitchai tha ” . Pleading to a nine inches high plant to protect the mangalsootram in her neck, by preventing the death of her husband! That is called BELIEF.
I remembered this incident the other day when I was chided, ‘ you do not know the meaning of ‘deerga sumangali bhava’ . I remember it again now.
Now you tell me whether my Aanjaneya swamy who flew across a vast ocean carrying a whole mountain with a forest wealth of life saving- herbs from the distant north to the extreme  south and thus saved the life of Sree Lakshmanan and several other warriors is worth worshiping or not .
Love and regards,
sperinkulam
Baltimore,
Nov 5th, 2011
Comments ;
Dear brother,

K. Sanckar
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Excellent rejoinder!!
Padma
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Superb write up!  Some of us who are not so well read in our religious literature, could not give a fitting reply to the erudite elder.
regards
saikrishnan
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Abhivadaye….
Athreya Gothra…..
Aapasthambhasoothra….
Yajur shaakhadhyaye….
Kameswara Sharma-nah:
Namovakam. I wanted to reply on specification of Ape God, but I was crossing language barriers. I felt its not right, so I deleted.
Yours is a very composed reply mama, appreciated. Lot learned in terms of language and descriptions, not that am completely ignoring / ridiculing Sri Narayan. My reaction was like kshana-kopam.
HariOm
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Lamps, the oil or ghee we pour in it, the wick we use, the bell, the conch,the idols or pictures, flowers, incense sticks- and many such items are not the essence or core of our worship ; those are only aids, tools or instruments to provide an ideal ambiance. So are the temples and the idols in them too.These are only symbols and not the substance . Our ancestors have suggested certain guidelines depending on various factors, such as the place, time and nature of worship, availability of the materials etc and those guidelines are flexible depending on the circumstances. For example, while in India, I conduct homams using sacks-full of cow dung cakes and wooden chips and samiths, and liters of ghee, the flame raising high and smoke spreading all over the house and outside. But when I am in my children’s houses in America or in other foreign lands, if I insist for such an arrangement, they will buy a ticket for my return trip, by the next available flight. So,I go with the vaadhyar and appreciate the way he develops the sacred fire in a small copper vessel , using coconut halves, camphor and smoke free cakes .

When we pray, we are eager to take our soul close to the God, to achieve absolute peace and happiness. Surroundings play an important role in this. Early morning, after a bath in the Kalpathy river facing the Viswanathaswamy kovil or in the Perinkulam or Pallavur ponds facing the raising sun, when I collect a clubbed-palm-full of water and offer arkyam to the visible divinity in the sky, my soul almost reaches that Heavenly bliss. The pleasure and satisfaction is beyond words. That expands manifold when I perform the same worship on the banks of the River Ganges. Despite tuning my mind to adjust to the circumstances, sometime, I do not get the same satisfaction when I perform my morning worship, in Baltimore or Florida, standing on the deck or garden surrounded by oaks or palm trees, facing at the sun and sometime facing the blank sky when sun is not available .Ideally, I should not feel the difference because the aim is the same. The same Sun God is in front of me high in the sky. But, I have not achieved that state of mind and maturity yet.
In my children’s houses, vegetable oil used for cooking is used for the lamps too. While sitting before them for my evening prayers, I used to imagine that I had before me a brilliantly polished, conventional brass lamps or kutthuvilakku, ignited with the help of cows-ghee or sesame oil, five set of wicks shining all around the lamp. Now I am used to the small silver lamp, with edible oil in it.
Aids or tools, surroundings or ambiance do play an important role in worship as in many other activities but over- emphasizing their importance is unnecessary.. I adore the intentionally ill-lit inner sanctum of the Anathapadmanabha ; some mystic power remains unrevealed in that garbgraham, inner sanctum.I do not derive the same feeling from the well lit abode of Sree Ranganathar. The powerful tube lights reveal too much. But that does not mean that one deity is superior to the other.
It is like saying that food served on the plantain leaf is tastier than the same food served in a plate, though the moment I enter a marriage hall, the first thing I normally do is enter the kitchen and look for plantain leaves stacked in a corner !
When your prayers are soaked in bakthi, it is immaterial whether you use gingerly oil or vegetable oil . Any oil will ignite it. The Shridi saint ignited lamps with water, they say.
Baltimore,
Sept 27, 2011
This was in response to a query about the oil to be used in lamps lit during worship.
Comments

Lamp: materials are immaterial..

Oct 10, 2011

” Few, if any, old dogs can learn new tricks, or perform them satisfactorily” says Brahmashri Naryanaswamy Anna and I am one of those old dogs. I learned swimming at the age of 65 , am learning music at 70 plus and read for hours together.There may  be many like me and it should be like that unless disease and dysfunction deteriorates the activities of the body and the mind  .
(If most of his ” faculties had perished  60 “, how is Anna, whose distance  to his celebrated century peak is only furlongs away, writing so pungently and fighting for his ideas and ideals so vigorously ? I am really happy about it . He should cross the proverbial 100 mark and continue to nourish this forum and navigate our thoughts )
I am also not scared of his warning that ” it is better to let the slumbering or absent powerful deities be, than to call them down by irresistible invocation, and then to insult them, by reciting wrongly or performing prayogam wrongly” . If a tongue soaked in animal blood could recite ‘Mara, Mara’ instead of ‘Rama, Rama’ and bring down the Heaven’s blessings which converted the hunter to a saint and made his sinned tongue to sing the glory of the Lord, why should I be worried if I make an inadvertent  mistake while  chanting a mantra ? And remember, Valmiki, twisted the God’s name, ultta, exactly opposite under the advice and guidance  great Tapasvies.
And about the ‘actions and gestures’ : Are the same through out the country ?  Imagine an Allahabad pundit and an Alathur Vaadyar reciting Rudram, sitting side by side or a Vasudevan Namboodiri and a vadkkanchery sastrigal performing a simple ‘Bavasevai’ . Which method is correct ? It cannot be both. There can be only one correct method. Will the family of the other be wiped out ?
When are our learned brahmins going to stop this threats, which has done irreparable damages to our society, the worst being the alienation of our youngsters away from our rituals and religious  practices. Unless we put a stop  to this ‘UMMACHI KANNAI KUTHAM’  threat , our community will never progress.
What is important is  sincere solicitation for the Divine grace and as long as the intentions are sacred, the body and the mind are clean, the Divine grace is bound to flow.
This is my opinion, a sincere one, though it may not be acceptable to the so called ‘learned’ Brahamanas of our group. I am sure that there will be at least a handful of Iyers who will be with me. And this is an ‘Iyers’ forum.
So, poojya  Anna ! I totally disagree with you and you gave me the clearance for that, when you said I ” have a right to disagree”
Love and regards,
sperinkulam
Hyderabad,
June 5, 2011
Comments
Superb write up!  I totally agree with you.  I do not know Sanskrit and hence my diction/pronunciation will not be upto the mark.  I learnt Vishu Sahasranamam, like my father, only in Tamil script.  But I am confident that the Lord will listen to my prayers.  Thanks for articulating the views of many of us.
regards
saikrishnan
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  Saturday, 23 April, 2011, 9:45 PM

Dear Mr. Sivasubramanyam,
 When I went through your mail in 123iyer, I was surprised. I was very much delighted the way you have
 written, (like Antony's speech,saying I am not a devotee) I think for Krishna Bakthas it is very difficult to
accept others as incarnation. I also feel the same way you feel about Sri Saibaba. I am not a devotee, but
I have visited him 3 times through other devotees. I also felt his physical body is same as others, I saw sweat in
 his dress, when I visited him once, closely, in Bangalore, He came to bless the boys of the devotee and did
upanayanam in his own way, producing the threads (for 2 boys) . Also he explained about Gayatri Mantra.
That day He said anybody, women and children all can chant the Gayatri Mantra. Because my childhood was
in Kerala, I was afraid of chanting some Mantras like Rudram and Gayatri etc., But I started chanting Gayatri
 Mantra. I have read the Sai publications, whether written by him or his devotees, I take good things and try to
follow some of them. I attened Sai Bhajans, because I love music, and they are very punctual. I also feel
Sai baba is a good soul and human being (1000 times better than me) and He could do many things like
building hospitals , schools, and providing water to villages etc. etc., my own way,very very small way I help,
(by God's wish)and unable to do what I wanted to do Then only I wonder How some people in our India
could manage such large followers, give them some solace, also with rich people's money could provide help to
 the needed,. I used to think, after many many punya janmas they have reached this stage. I also do many
Pranams at His feet. When I saw ur mail, I wanted to express my feelings also. There may be mistakes in
 my mail and feelings. HARE KRISHNA
Radha
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Got up late this morning and seeing the sunshine through the bed-room window, rushed to my favorite place in this house, the east -facing deck, from where I can watch and smell the flavor of the lush green lawn and oaks and pines, cherry and maple tress. The air was chill but the sunlight was pouring abundantly from the sky, a bliss for which I have been longing from the day I landed here, in my son’s house in Baltimore. It was slightly warm though laced with subtle cool breeze.
In ‘Anantha Jyothi ‘ my East-facing house in Hyderabad house too, the ‘sahasrakshi’ the thousand-eyed glory of heaven peeps through the high doors and ventilators, then enters and flushes my hall with His compassionate embrace and fall at the feet of the idols in my pooja room. The first thing I do in the morning is to come out to the front and admire and do aradhana , worship the celestial celebration , silently mostly, and sometime with vocal vibrations as I did this morning standing on the deck in the Baltimore house. ” Om, Mithraya namaha ” Salutations to you, friend, was the first prayer that came out of my mouth effortlessly . How close we bring the mighty, universal glory towards us, with that single – word appellation, ‘friend’, when you see him first, soon after you get up ! Is there any one else more friendly than the Sun, for the entire living and non living beings in the entire universe? I stood silently for minutes amazed, enjoying His beauty, grace and glorious look and the aptness of the mantram, ‘Om Mitraya namaha ‘ . Before I could say ‘Ravaye namaha’, the next mantram , the Gangetic flow of the Adithya hridaym stothram gushed out of the cavern of my heart.
Adithya hridaym appears in the ‘ Yudda kantam’, the last chapter of Valmiki’s Ramayanam , as a hymn dedicated to the Sun God, dictated by the cosmos sage Agastya to Sri. Rama , for his success in the battle. The pre-Ramayana period poem, full of charm, is a unique prayer for worship, a power capsule for health and prosperity, handed over to us by our forbears. Beholding Sri Rama, standing absorbed in deep thought on the battle-field, facing Ravana, who has come well prepared for the battle, Sage Agastya, who had come in the company of gods to witness the battle, addresses Rama as,’ Raama, Raama mahaabaaho ‘O Rama’, ‘O Mighty armed Rama’. ( What an encouraging appellation to a warrior facing a mighty enemy !) “listen carefully my son, to this ancient, eternal hymn”. That ‘valsa’ of Agastya would have made Sir Rama to raise his head and look for his illustrious father among the gods assembled to watch the battle from the sky above. ” This hymn of highest degree ( awards ) all around auspiciousness and prosperity – Sarvamangalamaangalyam, destroys all sins- sarvapaapapranaashanam , and dispels all doubts, alleviates anxiety and anguish, assures longevity of life Chintaashokaprashamanam aayurvardhanamuttamam ( ‘Sooryacha mamanyucha manyupathayacha manyu krithebhyaha, papeabhyo rakshantham ” comes to mind. Right? ) We see the Sun before us, experience his glory and power, every day and feel his presence, absence as well as his harshness. Here, before me is the ‘lokasakshi’, a witness of the whole universe , who had witnessed the birth, up coming of and dissolution of several dynasties, rivers, forests , ordinary and extra ordinary humans, birds and animals, mountains and meadows ! Here is the one who had witnessed and blessed the birth and living of my ancestors , their movements and their last journey and will continue to watch my progeny and theirs and theirs .That was why the Rishy said : “He is Brahma (the creator), Visnu (the Sustainer), Shiva (the destroyer), Skanda (the son of Siva), Prajapati (progenitor of human race), the mighty Indra (king of heaven), Kubera (the god of wealth and lord of riches), Kala (eternal time), Yama (the Lord of death), Soma (the moon god that nourishes), and Varuna (the lord of sea and ocean). ” Indeed, he is Pitris (ancestors, manes), the eight Vasus, the Sadhyas, the twin Aswins (physicians of Gods), the Maruts, the Manu, Vayu (the wind God), Agni (the fire God), Prana (the Life breath of all beings), the maker of six seasons and the giver of light ” The celestial parade of the thejasam api thejaswi, who creates, sustains and destroys all beings, shining like the molten gold, the lord who abides in the heart of all beings keeping awake when they are asleep, traversing the Vindhya mountains , seated on a chariot yoked to thousand shining yellow steeds , is a marvelous picture drawn with no paint or canvass.. And that ” PADMA PRABODHA’ appellation dazzles as a diamond crown for this hymn. Bramaha is padma sambhava, Vishnu , padmanabha and Sri lakshmi , padmapriya, padmini, padmahastha, padmalya, padmadalayadakshi and all but it is only the Sun god who is padma probadha., who alone can awaken a lotus- bud and make it to blossom. Let a mighty emperor and his learned court spend a whole night on the bank of a pond trying to awaken a lotus bed- no they cannot. It is only the benevolent touch of the sun god that can fulfill the night-long penance of the lotus bud . ‘Open-up our intellect , elevate it from the bud stage to blossom stage , illuminate and inspire it so that we tread on the correct path in our life’s journey – is that not what we seek through our Gayatri mantram too ? ‘Thamoghanya -one who dispels darkness-fine; himaghnaya- destroyer of snow and fog- that too fine, ‘ satrughnaya’ exterminator of foes – timely ; but why krithagnagnaya -annihilator of the ungrateful- hey, this is something new ! I have not come across this appellation for any other gods! What was in the mind of Agastya rishi when he said this and how did the sun god qualify for this name ? Kritagnas, ungrateful definitely deserve punishment and who else other than the sun who creates fire as well as water , is the ideal god to give punishment ? . The Mahakavi’s fantastic finale, down to earth, but from the high sky is , Soorya’s ‘chalo’ signal for the march of Sri Rama to annihilate Ravana.. ‘Atha ravi ravadanam nirikshyam Raamam Muditamanaah paramam prahrishhyamaanah. Nishicharapatisa nkshayam viditvaa Suragana madhyagato vachastvareti’ Meaning : Then knowing that the destruction of the lord of prowlers at night (Ravana) was near, Aditya, who was at the center of the assembly of the Gods, looked at Rama and encouraged, ‘ come on’ , with great delight. Purifying Himself by sipping water thrice, Rama took up His bow with His mighty arms. Seeing Ravana coming to fight, He put forth all his effort with determination to destroy Ravana.
“Appa, how long have you been staying in the open? ” asks my daughter- in- law Meghana, anxiety vibrating in her voice ‘What on the earth are you doing here, alone ?
‘Oh, just enjoying my morning prayers , Megh ‘ I reply calmly. ‘You have not brushed your teeth, no shower, no viboothy, no panchapatram, what prayer is this, appa ?’
‘ When the celestial glory, seated on a golden chariot yoked to thousand golden yellowish or bright greenish steeds, is before me showering delight and divinity what is the need of viboothy on my body or a vessel on my hand ? ‘ I ask her. ‘You were reciting ‘Aaditya hridayam, right?’ she asks, ‘ has the war begun?’ ‘It is about to start, Soorya bagavan has whistled the ‘ go’ signal.
‘Whistled like this?’ My grandson, Nikhll Shivam, picks up his whistle and makes a shrill sound. ‘No, like this ‘ I pick up the whistle from his tiny hand and try to make some sound. The child laughs at my inability to whistle. I too laugh at my inability to whistle.
P.S. 1. A short note on this stotram from a website :
Quote: “Aditya hrudayam contains the innovative hymns with many secrets and hidden meanings. The Jnana, Jnata, and Jneyam is completed as Sage Agastya is the Jnana and the Lord Rama Jnata and the presiding deity Jneyam is Sun in the heart. Hence it has come to be known as Aditya hrudayam. Further Sage Agastya has stated that success is assured for all those who recite these Sloka thrice a day—– It is said that Consciousness in the man and in the cosmos Sun is the same. Absolute consciousness is being understood only with the help of speech. These mystic words are interwoven in these Slokas. The Slokas third to twenty four Synchronizes with the twenty four letters of Gayatri Mantra. In Aditya hrudayam there are thirty Slokas in total. In this the first and second sloka depicts the arrival of sage Agastya to Sri Rama. The third stated the greatness of the Stotra, the fourth sloka explained about happiness, liberation and knowledge. The fifth will remove the related sins and with hold sorrows. From Sixth to fifteenth the description pertains to self effulgence and impresses that one pervading out side and inside is same. From Sixteenth to twentieth slokas are very important for mantra Japa. Here cosmic greatness of Sun God Surya as the internal Chaitanya in us is high lighted. Further the creator is one and not two is impressed. The human body consists Sapta Dhatu’s and in this dwells, only paramatma.
The Slokas from Twenty to twenty four are Mantra Slokas extolling Sun God. From twenty fifth to thirtieth the method of recital by Sri Rama and invoking God to bless him with the requisite strength for the victory in the battle field is stated ” – unquote.
Here is the link for the Aadithya hridyam stotram for you to enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsGJlyFcdQM&feature=player_detailpage
And if you know Malayalam and can enjoy poetry in that language her is a unique mystical love poem of Sooryakanthi flower, who turns her face according to the movement of her beloved, the charming Sun, longing for his love and affection .The author is Mahakavi G. Sankara kurup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZRPfkty-r4
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Baltimore,
April 1, 2011
Sent from my iPad