The God Within

This article is about how Hinduism lays the foundation for the inward search:-
A search becomes essential when something needs to be located or found. It becomes, in this process, all the more essential to know the description of the object under search. In the case of the search of God within, the person starts identifying the superlatives in him and how it is very close to the God within. The great Nammalwar suggests an easy way, He advocates leading the life of Sri Rama who was an embodiment of truth and adorned the path of dharma.

As many roads can be laid to reach a place of destination, is it easy to lay a road or realise the direction to reach the God within. One may have to take birth after birth to realise this truth. The mundane way of living knows not the direction as opposed to the heavenly or the spiritual way. AdiSankara, Baghavan Ramana Maharishi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, The Paramacharya, were humans who showed the example how to find the - God within and mix into hime as One.

'Srimad Bhagavatham' illustrates the case of 'God Within' in the episode of Hiranyakasipu. When MahaVishnu killed Hiranyaksha, his brother Hiranyakasipu became wild and started pouncing at Mahavishnu who had no other means than to take to his heels. When Mahavishnu ran out of breath, a flash occurred in his mind how to go out of sight of Hiranyakasipu. The method and means were very easy for him. Mahavishnu simply entered into the heart of Hiranyakasipu, Alas, Hiranyakasipu who saw God outside could not see the - God within

When a person starts living a heavenly life, the realisation of the "absolute" dawns into him.
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Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha

The Hindu Sanathana dharma' outlines the four "Purushartha" as Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, which stand as four major quests in everyone's life. There are many explanations for the word 'Artha'. Artha means 'The Meaning' or 'Wealth'. Artha also means as 'The Objectives'. Life's Artha lies in "Artha", so says a commentator.

Dharma precedes Artha, in other words, the generation of wealth must abide by the "Dharma-Way". The wealth yearned in this manner will be the means for leading a healthy life in all sense. The word 'Abyudhaya' connotes dharma. Artha and Kama in one. The Artha earned circumventing the 'Dharmic Way' will create anarchy only.

The war on Iraq can be cited as an example. More the wealth gathered in the wrong manner, more will be the dominating spirit over the downtrodden. Venon was a king who demanded his country men's riches for his own selfishness and the people were subjected to untold miseries. God incarnated, to end Venon's regime, this time as his son in the name 'Prethu'. The new King Prethu brought about the much wanted Renaissance and today the good Earth or Prithivi has been named after the King Prethu.

The Sanathana Dharma quotes that the Almighty can become the wealth of living beings when they lead a spiritual life. Aandal or Kodhai's life vibrates this essence in every way.

(To be continued)

Grandmother of Brahma

I start this blog with a question. Who is the grand mother of Lord Brahma? Let us hear what a learned pundit says. This scholar who is known for his humour in delivering mythological stories was invited to deliver a lecture in Ram Mandir in Malleswaram.

A Hindu correspondent approached him and asked how much was the crowd and how they behaved, when he delivered the epic story? The pundit replied that only grannies attended and their behaviour was akin to 'stand and still'. The scholar quipped they were all Lord Brahma's grand mothers. The correspondent was in utter confusion and pleaded the pundit to explain in lay man's language. The scholar explained that Lord Brahma took his birth from the "Nabhi" of Lord Narayana. According to Prahalada Lord Narayana came from the "pillar". Hence pillar is the grand mother of Brahma. The pundit told the correspondent that no body came for the lecture, but only the "pillars" standing in the Ram Mandir heard his lecture.

Their behaviour was still in standing posture. The Hindu correspondent had the last laugh.

Parabrahman

Adi Sankara proclaims that "PARABRAHMAM" penetrates and stand within all the objects in the Universe . A carpenter carves an elephant in a woodpiece. A child when she sees this believes that she sees an elephant. On the other hand when a carpenter sees this , his mind wanders whether it is a teak or what sort of wood it would be. The carpenter's mind does not think about the elephant in the form of wood. An Anaverage man, like wise, does not wake up to realise "The Omnipresence" in every object. The Maya or "Pancha Bhootha" in him deceives his vision.

A gyani, where as , realises the "PARABRAHMAM" beyond the "Pancha Bhootha", in the 'Panrutti' dolls made of clay look like real 'Brinjal', 'Banana' or 'soldier' to a child where as the maker of the doll knows that the doll is nothing but a clay substance. Similarly when we taste 'Mysore Pakku' or 'Gulobjam' or "Palkova", we forget they are all nothing but sugar. We even go on to praise that they taste like 'Amrith'. The models above only illustrate that the "PARABRAHMAM" is present everywhere which go unnoticed apparently in the routines of life.

AdiSankara's "Manisha Panchakam" brings out this truth. AdiSankara hand and experience before writing this masterpiece. 'Sri KasiViswanathar(Lord Siva)' appeared before AdiSankara disguised as a 'chandala' with four dogs. AdiSankara, unknowingly for a moment, asked him to give way. the 'Chandala' questioned AdiSankara "Who should make the way. is it the body or the sould"? There was a sparkle in Acharyal's mind about the presence of the "parabrahmam" in him. AdiSankara went on to praise the gyani standing before him and created "Manisha Panchakam". The last verse in "Manisha Panchakam" postulates the following theme. The Indhradhi Devas, what they enjoy, is only a momentary wave.

A true sage or a truly liberated soul finds him always immersed in the eternal bliss. He forgets the "I" entity or the "Ahankara", The "Gyani" in him at that instant is nothing but the PARABRAHMAM, Paramacharyal says that by reciting this sloka or the last verse from 'Manisha Panchakam', we may come to realise the presence of the Omnipresence, in course of time and get liberated from the 'mundanes like the "I" in one or for that matter the "Ahankara".

Faith

1. The Hindu philosophy answers the question "Is there anything called expertise to realize GOD"?. No need of any expertise but what is required is to have an implicit faith. It is better said that 'faith is god than faith in god'

2. Illustartion can be quoted from Hanuman who needed no bridge to cross the ocean but faith in Rama Nama or "Tharkara Nama" served as a bridge

3. Arjuna's single minded faith in Krishna as one man army won him the Kurukshethra war.

4. Samandar, a deciple of AdiSankara, when stranded before ganga in spate, prayed to his Guruji. There appeared a lotus in the shore and as he put his front foot forward, there again appeared another Lotus. He not only crossed the flooded Ganga but came to be known as 'PADMA PADAR".

4. Bharata Desam ( India ), is the creationout of the parts of ParaSakthi.
Mumbai is from Mumba Devi
Chennai from Chennamma Devi
Kolkatta from Kalka Devi
Chandigar from Chandi
Patna from Patan Devi

The sons of the soil theory is explictly in the above illustrations

5. Hiranyakasipu who became very angry at the killing of his brother by MahaVishnu, ran after Vishnu with a rage. Vishnu took to his heels. As He was not able to find a secure place to hide, he entered into the heart of Hiranyakasipu. Alas , Hiranyakasipu searched and searched outside, but the lord was inside his heart which he could not discover. The moral of the episode is,

When a person leads a religious life, he starts realizing God within himself.

Is Gold Deceptive

Is gold deceptive? - the maxim "All that glitters is not gold" does not answer the framed question. The maxim restricts to the extent that before you buy the yellow metal, try to see if it is really gold or not. We are back to the square one to know if gold is deceptive?

Let us hear what a sanyasi says. He was taking a stroll in a lonely bushy place reciting "Nama Shivaya" repeatedly. His recitation came to a halt when his walking stick hit against some hard thing and made a metallic sound. He had to clear the bushes around and the earth partly to discover a bowl and to his surprise the bowl was full of gold, yes solid pure. He didn't get enamoured by the sight and instead ran away from the scene uttering "Gold is deceptive and will change one's mind."

The logic we are looking for the 'why' question is not getting revealed in the above episode, takes us back to the square one. but the story continues. Now that the Sanyasi had ran away leaving the gold open, two friends Ram and Shyam who happened to come that way were taken a back at the sight of the yellow metal. Ram started the claim saying he saw the bowl first. Shyam ruled out his claim that his presence at the site could not be ignored. they decided to share the "Gold-Mine" equally. They both became cautious and decided to wait for the sun to set so that they might not get noticed by some wandering eyes. some one has to go to the city to fetch food as it was a long wait for the sun to set. They wrote their names in two pieces of paper and shuffled before taking the draw.

Ram's name was drawn first and it was decided that he would go to the city to fetch the food. Shyam promised one hundred times Ram that he would not run away with the gold. Ram left with great hesitation murmuring that Shyam would deceive him. Shyam was saying to himself that the golden opportunity comes but once. He took out a bamboo stick from the bush and cut one edge and sharpened it dagger like. Ram arrived with a food package and told Shyam he had finished taking it. Shyam cried to Ram that he could rest for ever and in a rush pounced upon him with the sharp edge of the bamboo. Ram fell down dead.

Shyam laughed wildly for having denied anybody sharing the new found wealth. He opened the food packet avariciously and ate the contents in a great hurry. alas he started realising that some thing wrong in the food. He, soon, fell down dead. Poor fellow didn't know that his friend had poisoned the food before bringing it to him.

This story answers the million dollar question if "Gold is deceptive" or not.

We can resort to mythology to bring home the same theme. Arjuna was messaging his body with oil . He was holding the oil in a gold vessel in his left hand and was using the right hand for messaging. Krishna appeared before him and got attracted by the gold vessel Arjuna was holding. Perhaps gold lures even the Lord. Krishna asked Arjuna to gift him the gold vessel. arjuna immediately gave it from his left hand. Krishna asked Arjuna if that was in order to give charity by the left hand and that too to the lord?

Arjuna calmly replied that, before he changed his mind, he wanted to part with the gold vessel. He confessed to the Lord that by the time he brought the gold vessel from left to right hand, his mind would have got changed in the other way. This incident reveals 'YES' to the question at the start of this passage.

Speech or Silence

The debate still goes on infront to declare whether Sanskrit or Tamil is the most suitable for worshiping god. But divinity is beyond language, reason and thoughts. When Buddha and Mahavir met, their disciples around them were wondering the topic they would choose for discussion. But silence only prevailed though more than one hour went by.

Silence is the best known language and nothing else is significant enough. other greats like Kabir and Farid, Sivayoga Swami and Ramana , when they met, they exchanged silence between them for long hours. What is the need of weighted words if silence can be the best medium to understand? When we don't go together with our mind, we take refuge to words. When we submerge ourselves into total peace, language disappears, words get dissolved. The mind or the thought process disappears.

The 'I' in you vanishes. who is inside at such a state? What is his Nationality? Where is the place for creed nor for Language? LA-VOTSU admits that" Known persons don't talk, people who talk don't understand". Arunagirinathar says 'remain quiet' which he says in our favour. Jen says 'Grass will grow byitself or for that matter Flowers will blossom slowly' both reiterates the same point.

Words before they reach God, return by themselves, human mind or thoughts can never disturb the divine. Thaithreeya Upanishad says this only to remind us to become the master of one's senses. We, on the other hand , are prepared to discuss for hours about "silence". We love to talk. We choose to talk about ourselves. We feel we lose our address if we remain silent.

When one forgets the 'I' in him, he starts realising the real 'I' in him. silence comes as a rescue to people who are prepared to forget the 'I' in them. The dividends speak more, in such cases speech is rendered to a state of waste or lose muscles. We tend to raise the tone while reciting the mantras especially more when those who are near by don't understand the 'Mantra's. The wise read only to reform themselves' ; ----'Confucius's while we reach a state of Eldorado, words disappear but tears of joy slowly trickle from the eyes.

Same is true when realisation of god takes place. Words lose its address. We realise God in bliss and not for the bliss. Reading beckeths knowledge but higher the knowledge one realises oneself the trumpet makes big noise. If one tries to open the trumpet to discover what makes it so loud, he discovers nothing inside. King Janagar wished once to obtain liberation of the self. Ashtavakkirar took up the challenge and asked the king to give his mind to him. Janagar did so. Janagar forgot the senses. he failed to realise what was going around him. days and months went by. The people of Mythila searched for the king but in vain.

When they found him atlast, he remained immovable like a rock. No response in him what so ever. Ashtavikrar was brought there. He uttered to King Janagar in the tone of an 'Asireeri' To get up and to come to himself. This episode brings out the fact that so long the mind exists, dreams remain, desires stay but no scope for true Awareness or Knowledge. We argue but our existence is on account of our thinking. Where as the divine philosophy says that 'I don't think. hence there exists no 'I'. The discovery of zero by Indians is not by accident. It is on account of the superior state of the mind. These are the words of R. K. Lakshman. A thief tried to close his ears so that when he steals the big bell, the noise made might not be audible to the environs.

This piece is an extract from a Chinese story. The moral of the story is that it is futile to control the external noise. Languages under go changes, So does speech. But the silence remain as the same language and wins over time. The lone hand makes no noise but the significance of this statement is to make one to hear the sound of the innerself. what is superior to the mind? - Intentions. what is superior to intentions? - "Thoughts" may come as an answer.

But "dhyana" or meditation in silence is the superlative. One can realise the earth or the sky or the distance between the two in deep meditation. What it conveys? You can realise 'divinity' in Silence. Silence can not be expressed by words . Rhetoric's fail to bring the efficacy of remaining in Silence. But the efficacy of silence can be made to exhibit in real life and in terms of success. There is an anechoic chamber in the Harvard university which is meant for conducting research about silence. Silence is not a state of "No Noise", but it brings out the state of one's mind. Gita Sarabai of India reveals that "Music is meant to silence the mind". Tranquillity of mind takes one to wander in the world of divinity, that is the travel to one's destination or emancipation.

Note: what I have written above is only my attempt to translate a piece I read in Tamil in a journal.

Temples

I happen to read an article by Paramacharyal in Tamil, the other day, in a journal. I found it interesting. I wish to share my benefit of reading here.

In South India, most of the temples are built facing East direction. The main gopuram face East, may be 'The moolavar or swamy' may in some temples face West. But there are two temples where Bhagavan faces South. Sri Rangam is one and the other is Chidambaram Both the Gods are Rajas namely RangaRaja and Nataraja. They both belong to the Kalakshetra art culture.

The word rangam means the theatre. Chidambaram, when the word is split, becomes bliss or ananda. "Chit" + "Ambaram" - signifying the sky is the limt to knowledge. While Sri Ranganathar is in 'Yoga Nidhra', SriNataraja is in 'Natya Mudhra'. They both are in a state of 'Samsara' is a 'Sagara' and we undergo a grim battle to overcome the turmoils of Life. Sri Ranganathar and Sri Nataraja remind us to look up to them for obtaining the real and the ultimate 'Ananda.

Nataraja and Dakshina Murthy are Lord Siva's Forms. Nataraja is in a standing pose and his left leg is raised in a dance posture where as Dakshina Murthy is in a sitting pose and He is in meditation (chinmudra). While doing 'Japa', we think of Dakshina Murthy and when we are happy and gay, the thoughts get oriented towards the dancing God.

Sri Ranganathar, Sri Nataraja and Sri DakshinaMurthy, all the three, are facing the south direction. They protect us from the fear of 'Yama' - The lord of death.

Vibhoothi gives protection and we adorn the forehead with this belief. When fire destroys everything, they only become ash. Even when the ash is burnt, it becomes ash again. In other words ash or vibhoothi is not destroyable, They remind us of the Lord Siva, The Eternal.

Like wise the word Rudhraksham contains "Rudhra + Akshi" , meaning "Siva+eye", signifying that the beads look like Siva's eyes. Siva also means peace and the wearer of Rudhraksha gets peace. We should note onething. That is there is no hole in any seed or Fruit of any Tree except in Rudraksha, God has made it so that Rudhraksha mala can be strung and blissfully worn.