fuel for the mission

fuel for the mission

Now the time came for Garuda to go in search of Amrutha. He is conscious that the task he has to undertake is really tough. Even though he possesses extreme efficiency, he should also have the physical energy and the propelling force to launch Him further to where the pot of ambrosia ( in Bharatham and Puranas we see amrutham and somam used to connote the ambrosia). Garuda asks his mother what he should eat to gains sufficient energy. Her advise was that the young bird should eat away all the Nishadaas, a community of fishermen, and satiate his hunger. The Nishadas colony was situated in the middle of the ocean.

Vinatha gave a warning note also. People called Brahmanas were everywhere and it was possible that such persons would be available in the Kingdom of Nishadas also. Vinatha advises Garuda that he should not go anywhere near a brahmana with his intention to eat him. Brahmana was the power of Indra, Vayu, Yama Agrni, Ashwins, Marut etc all rolled into one. Devas can kill by action brahmana can annihilate you with mere words. Then Garuda asks his mother how he should recognize a Brahmin. She says it should very easy to recognize as the Brahmin would ooze out luster of his penance and knowledge. And if by any chance a brahmana entered his throat, he will start having a deadly buring sensation In the mouth and immediately he should spit the victim out. Anyway garudas intestinal juices were incapable of digesting a Brahman. 

In his Bada Khaana of Nishadas, Garuda ate away all the fishermen, but as feared by Vinatha, one Brahmin was also available in the town of Nishada and was taken in and Garuda's throat started giving burning sensation. The brahmana was only placed near the outer peripheralas of his his beak and so was requested to move out or jump out. But the funny Brahmin had a wife from the Nishada Community and the person would leave only if the Lady was also released. Garuda has to concede that demand, for fear of the curse of the Brahmin. We talk of a Nair tea shop even in the moon, but see how the funny Brahmins reach everywhere in the universe in search of livelihood and family? That continues till now.

Garuda was only partially satisfied with the eating of Nishadas. He soared up and on his way he met his father Kashyapa Prajapati and explained to him about his mission to capture amrutha and also about his insatiable hunger. Kashyapa had a beautiful solution. There were two Rishis, both brothers called Vibhavasu and Supratika. Vibhu was the elder and was keeping the ancestral family properties with him. The younger brother Supratika knew he was entitled to half the portion of the property and every week would visit his elder brother and demand partition. The elder brother was not willing to do this. He advised the younger one about the family property being scattered and the vedic rites and other offerings getting obstructed in the process. Behind such pious entreaties, the avarice for the whole wealth was working. When the younger brother became impossible to handle with his eternal nagging, Vibhavasu cursed him for pestering and the younger brother became an elephant. The younger brother also did not keep quiet. He cursed the elder one to be a tortoise. Even in those forms their desire for wealth did not abate. Every now and then the elephant would stand on the banks of a celestial water-spot calling the brother for a fight and the tortoise would respond immediately and the elephant would drag the elder brother tortoise to the ground and the tortoise in turn will pull back the elephant to the water. For the onlookers sometimes the fight was amusing but for most of the time it was a nuisance. The elephant and tortoise were of mammoth size and their belligerent movements caused disturbance and quakes everywhere. So it was Garuda's turn to make a quick supper of the elephant and tortoise both. He captured them, one on each leg, but he required a place where he should place them and break them with his beak.. This lead to funny results, which you can see in the next dispatch.

Garuda was asked to eat the Nishadas mainly because they were a belligerent lot causing dislocation to other tribes. The bird's hunger would be over and the nuisance from the group also. Even there the

funny Brahmin interfered and just by virtue of a marriage a nishada woman also escaped and she would continue to produce more and 

more nishadas.. especially considering the Brahmins capacity to procreate.

The haggling for wealth and its partition would never end even if the parties to the argument may pass away. The fight between these two would have been for some trees, wooden barks, or kamandalus. Still they fought, cursed one another and finally Garuda had to settle the 

issue.

Lord's chosen one

Now Vinatha had learnt her lesson for life. But what a price she had paid! When the thousand years of life inside the shell of the egg was complete, the illustrious Vainateya, the Garuda was born. The whole divinity rejoiced and exhibited signs of the coming glory by their rejoicing. The little bird looked like another fire. I meant little only in age. He was a giant in size even at birth. He was born to be another Indra, the Indra of the birds. When Aanjaneya was born as the son of the airgod, he was compared to the Sun in glory. Garuda is praised as another agni. He was but a slave the moment he was born, because the mother was the slave of his aunt Kadru. He received taunts and humiliation from his cousins right from the moment he was born. But this only redoubled his valour . He learnt from Vinatha about their slavery and the curse of his brother Aruna and the latter's prediction that the young Garuda was born to release his mother from slavery. The huge bird was always in hunger and his greatest desire was to eat up all the snake cousins. This appetite of Garuda continues for ever. He got educated and became erudite in all Vedas and Sastras. He wanted to negotiate the release of his mother and himself from the wily aunt Kadru and her venomous sons. After hard negotiation it was agreed that if Garuda could bring the pot of Amrutham which was kept under great security by Gods to the Auntie and her long sons, they would free the bird and his mother from slavery. The brave Garutman agreed at once to bring te amrutham and set out on his task immediately. 

During his flight the first person he met was Lord Mahavishnu. In his raw youth, the bird could not recognize the greatness of the master of the world. Impulsive as he was, the bird challenged the Lord for a fight. The eternal Lord of the world knew the greatness of this bird and He was sure that this great being was not destined to perish fighting Lord Narayana himself. So the lord faked admission of defeat before the valour of Garuda. Immediately Garuda had the temerity to demand of Vishnu that Garuda should be stationed always at a loftier place than Bhagavan himself. The lord in his eternal mercy, granted Garutman the status of the insignia of the Divine flagstaff. By this time the bird started to understand who the great soul was and volunteered himself to be the mount , carrier and Servant of the Master of the whole Universe. 

There is one story that Garuda demanded war with the Lord and when the Lord surrendered without fight, he ordered the lord to take a boon from Garuda. And the merciful lord begged of Garuda to become his mount and also icon in his flagstaff. 

Whatever may be the story, Garuda, became the intimate friend, servant and mount of Lord Vishnu. This added glory to himself and the Lord. 

Garuda 's term of service with Lord Narayana would begin after his mission of capturing amrita was accomplished. A lot of exploits followed in the process. The story will continue.

Here we have to understand how merciful Lord Narayana is. The little bird challenged him for a fight. Whatever may be the credentials of Garuda, can he ever stand in comparison with Lord Govinda, Damodhara, and Madhava.. But the young talent was spotted by the Lord in his eternal Grace, and somehow the youngster was tamed to become the most faithful devotee of Narayana. Yes, when the Lord wants to have someone for Himself, he will not hesitate to attract that person to his charismatic circle by any means. 

The story will continue….

मूले कल्पद्रुमस्य द्रुतकनकनिभं चारुपद्मासनस्थं।

मूले कल्पद्रुमस्य द्रुतकनकनिभं चारुपद्मासनस्थं।
वामाङ्गारूढगौरेनिबिडकुचभराभोगगाढोपगूढं।
सर्वालङ्कारकान्तम् वरपरशुमृगाभेरिहस्तम् त्रिनेत्रं
वन्दे बालेन्दुमौलिम् गजवदनगुहास्लिष्टपार्श्वम् महेशं॥
mūle kalpadrumasya drutakanakanibhaṁ cārupadmāsanasthaṁ|
vāmāṅgārūḍhagaurenibiḍakucabharābhogagāḍhopagūḍhaṁ|
sarvāalaṅkārakāntam varaparaśumṛgābherihastam trinetraṁ
vande bālendumaulim gajavadanaguhāsliṣṭapārśvam maheśaṁ||

Seated in the lotus posture under the kalpavriksha
possessing a hue of running molten gold,
 the  Gauri (Ma Parvathi) of dazzling white colour seated on  His left thigh 
and His naughty hands hovering secretly  around  the buxom breast of that Uma,
 He who is bedecked in  all ornaments,
 He, carrying an axe, a deer and a percussion instrument (udukku) in His hands, 
 having three eyes, adorning His matted hair with the young nascent  moon in crescent form, 
and embracing his two darling sons the elephant faced Ganesa and the cute Skanda the  Guha on his flanks, 
I prostrate in  utter self supplication and surrender before that lord of Lords, Shiva... 

This is the Dhyanam for Sakthipanchaksharam..

Pranams  for the whole Shiva family on Shivaratri.

UchaishravaaH

Here enters another character in the story, the celestial horse, UchaishravaaH.  or Uchaisravas.  Its colour is pure while from face to tail.  The birth of this horse is described below.  It was a secondary product of  the mega event of churning the milky ocean by devas and asuras for obtaining amritham. The graphic details are skipped for another occasion.  Suffice to say that many things good and bad came out of the ocean.  Gems came, devas took them.  Airavatha, the four tusked  shiny white elephant emerged and Indra made it his  mount.  Vaaruni the goddess of intoxicating liquours came and went to the side of Asuras.  The beautiful  damsel  Lakshmi emerged with a garland meant for the person meant  to be her husband.   The suave and beautiful Vishnu was ready with protruding neck and received her.  The moon emerged and went to the skies.  And remember, the muck of the churing process  produced the most potent  venom called Halahalam, and all the smart people including  devas and asuras  fled for their life.  The venom started burning out the universe.  Lord Shiva  saw it , and embodiment of selfless love for all creatures as He is,  was overcome by love  for His creations and without any hesitataion took the whole venom in  his hand and drank it.. The divine mother Uma was aghast.  The whole universe actually resided in his  stomach and if the venom reached the inner organs of the Lord, it would burn the whole world.  So she just held tight on the throat of her husband  to prevent the venom from going in.  
( May be all wives have learnt this art from the  Divine mother  Parasakthi).   Brahma was clever enough to cover the mouth of the Lord Shiva so that He did not vomit back.  Ultimately the venom solidified in the neck of the Lord and  therefore He is praised as Neelakanta.

Namaste astu bhagavan Visweswaraaya mahadevaya, thrayambakaaya, thripuranthakaaya, thrikaagnikaalayaa, kaalagnirudraaya, NEELAKANTAAYA,  mrutyunjayaaya, sarveswaraaya, sadaasivaaya, shankaraaya sreeman mahaadevaaya namaH..

Today is Shivaratri.  Let us praise His name.  NamaH Sivaya. 

Uchaaishravas the celestial horse was also a product of this churning.  The sisters who were apparently devoted utterly in love to one another, were actually  impossibly jealous of each other and Kadru  of the two was really scheming and not beyond stealth.  She addressed her sister and stared talking about the churning of the oceans and also the celestial horse which is immaculately white all over.  As if joking, she told Vinatha, " Look my darling sister, let us have a wager for fun.  Both of us have seen the Uchaisravas.  Can you say what colour it is.?  If your answer is correct I shall remain a servant of yours for the whole of my life.  If you are proved wrong it would be your turn to be my servant for ever."  

Vinatha was straightforward and she was happy at the idea of making her sister  her servant by giving the correct answer that the colour is white.  But Kadru had other schemes.  She commanded her sons the serpants to encircle the tail of the horse so that because of the venom of these snakes  the tail would look dark.   The sons, though cruel serpents first hesitated to do this treacherous act, but they were forced by the threat of motherly curse.  After ensuring the compliance of her sons,  when Vinatha declared that the horse was pure white, Kadru stated that  its tail was pitch dark.  The sisters haggled and decided to visit heaven and the horse, and to her utter dismay, Vinatha could see a black tail for the white horse  thanks to the presence of her nephews.  She was confined to eternal slavery of her sister and her thousand braggart  children.

Many lessons are to be  learned from this episode.  When good things are available there are many takers for them.  This was the case of gems, airavata, uchaaisravas and Lakshmi.   But when unwanted byproducts ooze out all the people turn blind eyes and if possible  slip out of the place. It takes a person of real character to take on the evil of the world  to protect it.  That great act of Sacrifice could be performed  only by the greatest Lord of Lords, Sri Parmeswara.  Namah Sivaaya.

Another  issue is jealousy and one-up-man-ship.  It is an inborn human trait.  Kadru was  fully conscious that she was doing this  cruelty to her own sister.  But her conscience did not prick her. We see lesser things happen in our day to day life.  For every  boy or girl  the aunt will appear to be very  affectionate.  But  when a person seeing something good happening to his own kin he is jealous and does all that is in his control, like word or action to decry of nullify such benefit.  Other people who are not very close would be having great achievements, but  that does not affect him much.

Third issue is that mothers often lead their children astray.  It was an unpardonable sin on the part of  Kadru  to use her sons  as false pigment  to the tail of  the divine horse, even against their wishes.  They had to pay heavy prices for this in the hands of Garuda later,  who annihilated the clan of his cousins except for  about ten of them, and even  that on the face of entreaties from the whole array of Gods.

Hope to continue..  Wishing you all the Graceful benediction of Lord Shamkara  on the day of Shivaratri, I stop for the day.

--

how many blunders people can commit?

How many blunders people can commit?

Daksha prajapati had many daughters, various puranaas and itihaasaas put the number between fifty and sixty. The birth of daughters was also at phased intervals. We know he gave the stars as wives to the Moon. Sati, the Dakshayani, became the wife of Lord Shiva. At one stage Daksha had two beautiful daughters, Vinatha and Kadru. Though uterine sisters, they were jealous of one another all the time. Both were in due course given in marriage to Kashyapa. The sage was infatuated by the beauty of both. Both were offered boons. Kadru wanted a thousand sons who were very valorous and potently poisonous and could conquer the world. Vinatha in turn wanted two sons, who were greater in strength that the sons of Kadru. That boon was also granted. After impregnating both the ladies, Kashyapa went to forest for penance. In time Kadru delivered one thousand eggs which were entrusted to her servants to be kept in safe receptacles till the eggs hatched. Vinatha also delivered two eggs, which were also kept in safe containers. The sisters waited, and at the end of five hundred years, the Kadru's eggs gave out thousand beautiful long snakes all full of verve and venom. Vinatha was watching this. Her eggs remained static.

Exasperated and moved by jealousy she ordered one of the eggs to be broken. Tragedy stuck. She found one great bird of great beauty but having grown only the upper limbs of the body, ejected out of the egg. The child was miserable, maimed and crippled for the whole of life. He was called Aruna. He could not forgive her mother for having landed him up in such a miserable condition. He cursed her that for the sin of breaking the foetus prematurely, she would suffer servitude at the hands of her wicked sister Kadru and her thousand venomous sons. He also warned her that she should not attempt the same folly with the second egg. He also gave the happy message that the second egg will hatch in another five hundred years and one of the greatest conquerors of the world, Garuda was to be born then. Garuda would be capable of releasing her servitude and will in time become the king of birds, and equal in valour to Indra and become a beloved of Vishnu.

Even in this short scenario of events we get a fair idea as to how many blunders people can commit. Kadru was an ambitious and wicked lady. She wanted thousand pro-genies as poisonous snakes. Where could have the poison come? Kashyapa was a mild recluse. No poison there. Only Kadru could have supplied so much of venom. Her venomous nature would be revealed later. The birth of the thousand snakes was the start of regime of poisoning in the earth. 

Jealousy did Vinatha in . Once she saw the snakes snuggling in the laps of her sister Vinathas jealousy reached its peak. She did not hesitate to break an egg of hers which would have killed the child altogether. It was only chance that the foetus had some life and later on he became the charioteer of the Sungod(Aruna). Think of the damage done. Had the bird grown to its full strength he would have exceeded even Garuda in Valour. In fact Garuda was only the second best to Aruna. The breaking of the egg was utter folly on the part of Vinatha, and she got a curse from the maimed son also. This is a lesson that thoughtless action can result in irreparable loss and create innocent victims. What has Vinatha say to her maimed son..? Contemporary females also sometimes attempt at taking medication to terminate a pregnancy of an unwanted or untimely child. But this crime was against a very much wanted progeny who would have been the conqueror of the world..

The funny idea of Kashyapa getting infatuated with these females and granting them whatever they wished, and then just adjourning to a forest washing off his hands from everything is another act of irresponsibility. 

The story will progress….

Tell me if it should be continued…

The  story of Garuda unveils itself in chapters 16 to 35 ( the numbers may vary according to the versions of the Epic) of Mahabharathatm aadiparvan  aastikaparvan.. where the history of the famous Snake or serpant  sacrifice by Janamejaya is described.  The story with minor variants appear in many Purnaas including Bhagavatam, Padmapuranam, briefly in Brahmapuranam, and in  many other sources.

It is known that the grandson of Arjuna and the Son of Abhimanyu, King Parikshit, once had a slip in his noble character and adorned the neck of a sage in meditation with the dead remains of a snake.  The sage did not know about it but when the son of the sage saw this indignity perpetrated on his pious father, could not control himself and made a curse that the man who caused such an insult to the sage should be bitten to death on the seventh day from thence by Takshaka, the then ruling king of Nagas.  Parikshit tried to avoid the death by all means but the curse of an innocent child smarting at the insult meted out to his father was too potent, and In spite of the fact that the kind hid in a palace built in the middle of the sea, Takshaka managed to enter the kitchen of the king in the shape of a worm inside a fruit and finally  executed  his orders.  In the meantime, when sure death was gaping at him  Parikshit, the gradson of Arjuna and Krishna, became conscious of the greatness of the  Lord Narayana and the Purana of Bhagavatham was imparted to him by Sage Sukabrahmam, the celebrated son of Vedavyasa  in seven days  and this is now taken as the practice for reciting the purana as Saptaham, or a seven days ceremony.  Thus the king was purified and was prepared to meet his death  because he knew death was not an end of anything but He was just going to the other world to keep company with his grand uncle Krishna and His bhaktas.  But the inevitability stuck him.. Bhagavatham could secure him place in Vaikuntam (the abode of Vishnu)  but the curse of a small boy,  given out as a just punishment for the blasphemy of desecrating the body of a sage in meditation could not be avoided.

The story will go on.  The snake sacrifice was the revenge perpetrated on the snakes but Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit as a retaliation to the action of Takshaka the naga in obedience to the just curse by the son of the Sage.

The whole story  till now is a series of retaliation and curses.  It is a pathetic human trait that knowingly or unknowingly  some person commits an act which is not proper according to the accepted tenets of human conduct.  And such impropriety often originates from  the most unexpected source.. We can only say it is the play of fate.  Parikshit, the scion of Kuru dynasty..and a Pandava was the epitome of virtues.  Fate landed him a forest during a hunting spree, and he was very thirsty. He saw the sage in penance and demanded for water.  When the sage who could listen to nothing as he was in deep meditation did not oblige, the minuscule evil rage in the otherwise most noble king jumped out and the sage was insulted.  That action had no justification.  It is a lesson on human conduct that any person, however noble he is may fall prey to his vanity and anger and  may commit unpardonable errors.  And  quite unlike the general perception that  even the most heinous acts can be compensated through various expiations, such compensations are not possible always.  Maintaining an impeccable character and conduct is like a walk on the razor's edge and any persons who may think that he is the most efficient and sincere seeker of dharma can falter for a split second and face doom.  This is the  law of Karma.. One insulting laught by Draupadi, one moments' mental aberration by Vishwamitra,   one false utterance by Dharmaputra regarding the dead elephant Ashwathaama… the story goes on…

God has created a perfect world with imperfect occupants..Maybe he is enjoying the dramatic situations arising on earth through the small and big blunders committed by his puffed up creations.

Another lesson to be learned is that when fate gapes at  your face as sure death, there is no escape.

The story will unfurl itself further.  It is too long for compilation in an hour or so. Tell me if it should be continued……

--

sorry for the interruption

I thought it would be an easy passage for me to travel through Ramyanam, Bharatham and Bhagavatham to take out the stories of the son of Anjana and Hanuman and the son of Vinatha the Garuda.. But the reading had landed me in a world of wonder, simply great reading and study.. The monkey and the bird are too great to be described by mere quoting from one Purana or Itihasa.. The study of the original texts, with limited timeslot for me for  this work indeed slows down  my output.  The saga of mutual acrimony between two sisters Vinatha and Kadru, both daughters of Daksa Prajapathi and married to the same man Kashyapa, and  their bid to beget the most heroic pro-genies, Vinatha  delivering two eggs, one of which she broke impatiently after five hundred years  and begat a half formed son Aruna, along with  a curse from him of eternal servitude for having maimed him for ever, and the second egg developoing after five hundred years more  into the indomitable king of birds Garuda, Kadru begetting thousand serpants, and these the sons occupying the tail the divine horse UchaaisravaaH to make it look black and enabling the victory of their mother Kadru in a wager with their aunt Vinatha and making Vinatha and Garuda their servants... the story goes on with mild variations in three of four texts,, I am not prepared to present anything half-baked. 

My study on Pranava and Sandhyavandhanam is to continue.  A lot of material is already gathered but there again I am facing constrains of time.. 

The translation of Narayaneeyam is also at a standstill.  

I hope, I pray God I will start resuming all these in a short time.. But  now after more than nine hundred posts and a reasonable number of persons visiting my blog  I am eager to be more authentic in whatever I write. I do hope I will get your support and encouragement.  The avid reading of materials in Sankrit, English, Tamil and Malayalam just gives me  profound insight into the materials  recording our cultural heritage, and I am all the more convinced that it is blasphemy to write anything without in-depth  study.  So the things are delayed and not denied for you.  Please bear with me.  I am sure I will post something worth even though not adequate  in girth from tomorrow onwards, Please do read them and bless me.

காக்கை சிறகினிலே நந்தலாலா

 

காக்கை சிறகினிலே நந்தலாலா உன் கரிய நிறம் தோன்றுதடா நந்தலாலா 

sang Bharatiyar

I see your black hue in the wings of a crow, oh the darling of Nandagopa

Kumaran aasaan the great poet of malayalam said.. 

കണ്ണേ മടങ്ങുക കരിഞ്ഞുമലിഞ്ഞുമാശു
മണ്ണാകുമീ മലര് വിസ്മൃതമാകുമിപ്പോള്‍ 

എണ്ണിടുകാര്‍ക്കും ഇതുതാന്‍ ഗതി സൌഖ്യമെന്തു 

കണ്ണിരിനാല്‍ അവനിവാഴ്വു കിനാവ്‌ കഷ്ടം 

kanne matanguka karinjumalinjumaasu mannakumii malaru vismruthamaakumippol,

enniitukaarkkum ithuthan gathi saukhyamentu kanneerinaal avani vaazhvu kinavu kashtam..

My eyes, you withdraw yourself from enjoying the beauty of this flower, because in the span of a few minutes or, may be  hours, the flower will fade, become unattractive and turn into sod and shall be forgotten for ever.. 

Beware, this is the fate for all living beings on the earth...it is meaningless to shed tears,

life is but a dream, an illusion...

 So Krishna created this stunning beauty for a very short time to sit on the plant and give pleasure to the eyes of others. Why should we pluck it and shorten its lifetime? 

பூக்களைத்தான் பறிக்காதீங்க

viswam vishnur vashatkaro...

viswam vishnur vashatkaro... 

विश्वं विष्णुर वषट्कारो

so starts Vishnusahasranaamam 

Guruvayurappan is the whole universe Viswam Himself.. 

and not the granite idol we see consecrated in the sanctum .. which is only an icon. 

By growing beautiful flowers on earth which is a part of His self he adorns himself.

He is the fertile land where such beautiful flowers bloom.

Opinions can vary on this issue ..

Sankara once apologized to Lord shiva for having seen the divine manifestation restricted in a stone idol while He, the Lord is present in the whole universe, as the ashtamurthi... 

The famous prayer of Kalidasa in 

Ahijnaana Shakuntalam.. the opening invocation 

या सृष्टिः स्रष्टुराद्या वहति विधिहुतं या हविर् या च होत्री

ये द्वे कालं विधत्तः श्रुतिविषयगुणा या स्थिता व्याप्य विश्वं

यामाहुः सर्वबीजप्रकृतिरिति यया प्राणिनः प्राणवन्तः

प्रत्यक्षाभिः तनुभिरवतुवः ताभिरष्ताभिरीशः॥

महाकवेः कालिदासस्य अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तळात्॥।

Yaa shrastuH shritiraadhyaa vahati vidhihutam yaahavir yaa cha hotri, 

ye dwe kaalam vidhattah shrutivishayagunaa yaa stitaa vyapya viswam, 

yaamaahu sarvabhiijaprakrutiriti yaya praaninah praanavanthaH 

pratyakshaabhiH tanubhiravatu vaH taabhirashtaabiriisah... 

who is the first among creations..water, 

who takes oblations properly made to gods..agni, 

which is the offering in yajna the havis, 

who is the person making oblation.. brahmana, 

who knows the past and future.. time, 

who is the medium of hearing and sustains the life of all beings..air, 

who pervades the whole universe, the teja in the shape of akasha, 

and 

who as the prakriti is the mother for all beings..the mother earth... 

Lord Ashtamurthi the 

Shiva who manifests in these eight forms may protect us. 

In purushsooktham they say 

तं यज्ञं बर्हिषि प्रौक्षन्

tam yjanam barhishi praukshan... 

यज्ञेन यज्ञं अयजन्त देवाः 

yajnena yajanamayajantha devaah.

तस्मात् यज्ञात् सर्वहुतः . 

tasmaad yajnaad sarvahutaH ... 

He is the oblation, He is the yajna process Himself and He conducts the yajna.

so we see the manifestation of Shiva the Krishna everywhere.. Nothing special can be achieved by adorning any symbol or worshipping any Icon.. 

I do not say this to hurt or challenge the sagunopasakaas, 

but it would appear that worship of symbols is only a stage in growth of a sadhaka.. 

when Krishna said Patram Pushpam Phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchati... 

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति 

He only meant that when we see the leaf, flower, fruit and water which we offer to Krishna 

we should praise the creator who is none other that that black fellow Himself
We are offering to Him only Him manifesting as His creation 

Krishna I love you...

Unadulterated energy

Unadulterated energy

He was the son of the wind-god himself born by accident to a monkey woman. She delivered him in a cave in the mountains of Kishkinda forest.  But the potential revealed itself instantaneously. When he opened his eyes and felt hungry, he did not cry for mother's milk as is usual for any infant.  He saw the solar disc in the zenith and for him it appeared to be a ripe and juicy fruity.  He jumped to catch it and eat it and his speed was supersonic.  The world trembles.  The gods were terrified of a catastrophe.  No one knew what exactly he should do.  The child was racing towards the sun and even at the distance of about three hundred miles  it could feel no strain or exhaustion due to the heat.  He was opening his mouth wide to gobble up the red fruit that was the sun.  Then Indra did a funny thing.  He hurled his thunderbolt at the child, and since the weapon was blessed it did its work and the baby was hit on his chin and fell unconscious .  The hit of the thunderbolt distorted one chin of the hero slightly, and so He gained the name Hanuman.

The god of wind was enraged.  Someone had hit his darling son.  Immediately he went out of circulation. The entire universe including gods choked.  The world was on the brim of asphyxiation. Then all the gods led by Brahmadeva approached windgod and  tried to appease him.  The child was revived.  He was granted the boon on immortality. All the Gods including brahmadeva promised that their weapons and arrows in their names would never proved fatal to the child.  The sungod took upon himself the duty of educating the child.  Thus the child grew into one, who had the speed of mind, the energy equal to the wind, the winner of all his organs, the best among the wisest person, and also the chief of the army of the monkeys.

But as luck would have it, a virulent child, and the son of a monkey  (aanjaneya the son of Anjana), he was very naughty and played some pranks on some hermits doing penance in the caves of Kishkinda.  In turn they cursed him that he would never remember his extreme valour unless he is reminded of it by a proper person.

It is to this Hanuman that Jambavan the elderly boar, and a great hero himself, addressed the following words.

अनेकशतसाहस्रीं विषण्णां हरिवाहिनीं जांबवान् समुदेक्ष्यैवं हनुमन्तमदाब्रवीत्।

वीर वानरलोकस्य सर्वशस्त्रविशारद तूष्णीमेकान्तमाश्रित्य हनुमन् किं न जल्पसि॥

हुनुमन् हरिरजस्य सुग्रीवस्य समो ह्यसि। रामलक्ष्मणयोश्चापि तेजसा च बलेन च॥

अरिष्टनेमिनः पुत्रो वैनतेयो महाबलः। गरुत्मानिति विख्यातः उत्तमः सर्वपक्षिणां।

बहुशो हि मया दृष्टो सागरे स महाबलः।  भुजङ्गानुद्धरन्पक्षी महावेगो महायशाः।

पक्षयोर्यद्बलं तस्य तावद्भुजबलं तव। विक्रमश्चापि वेगश्च न ते तेनावहीयते॥

बलं बुद्धिश्च तेजश्च सत्त्वं ते हरिसत्तम। विशिष्टं सर्वभूतेषु किमात्मानं न बुद्ध्यसे॥

श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणे किष्किन्दाकाण्डे सर्गं ६६ श्लोकाः १—७

anekashatasaahasriiM viSaNNaaM harivaahiniiM jaaMbavaan samudeekSyaivaM hanumantamadaabraviit.

viira vaanaralokasya sarvashastravishaarada tuuSNiimekaantamaashritya hanuman kiM na jalpasi..

hunuman harirajasya sugriivasya samo hyasi. raamalakSmaNayoshchaapi tejasaa cha balena cha..

ariSTaneminaH putro vainateyo mahaabalaH. garutmaaniti vikhyaataH uttamaH sarvapakSiNaaM.

bahusho hi mayaa dR^iSTo saagare sa mahaabalaH.  bhuja~NgaanuddharanpakSii mahaavego mahaayashaaH.

pakSayoryadbalaM tasya taavadbhujabalaM tava. vikramashchaapi vegashcha na te tenaavahiiyate..

balaM buddhishcha tejashcha sattwaM te harisattama. vishiSTaM sarvabhuuteSu kimaatmaanaM na buddhyase..

shriimadvaalmiikiraamaayaNe kiSkindaakaaNDe sargaM 66 shlokaaH 1—7

The backdrop is this.   Hanuman the great monkey is serving as a minister to an obscure Monkey  king in exile Sugriiva, and Sri Rama along with Seetha and Lakshmana had arrived at the forest to fulfill a vow.  By some stealthy ruse, the king of demons, Ravaneshwara had abducted Sita to Lanka  and while wandering in the precincts of Rishyamooka mountains, the brothers had become friendly with Sugriva, and Rama had won back to Sugriva the lost kingdom  from the latter's arrogant brother Vaali, after killing Vaali, and in return the army of monkeys had been sent all over the continent of Asia in search of Sita.  The major battalion, headed by the crown prince  Angada, had reached the south-eastern tip of India abutting the Bay of Bengal from where there lied the Vast oceans and Srilanka at the other end.  The monkeys had enough evidence to presume that Ravana would have taken  Sita to Lanka..

The monkey's were at their tether's end.  To reach Lanka and see if Sita was there one had to cross the sea, and the only conceivable mode for a monkey would be to jump the distance and the distance was not at all small.. it was one hundred yojanas of that time ( there are different views about the exact measure of a Yojana by todays standards..varying from one hundred kilometres to about four hundred kilometres.)   The monkeys had a day-long assembly as to who could do this.  Jambavan, one of the leaders was the main speaker.  No one was sure about himself and his capability of covering such a distance over water and keep his life.

As luck would have it they had the minister Hanuman also in the team.  He was never conscious of his valour.  He was always playing the role of the intellectual in the court of Sugriva.  Since the present assembly was for the physically valorous, Hanumanji kept himself aloof, though he had the physical fitness and shape, as he never knew the unadulterated energy was seething inside him.

But there was the ancient Patriarach Jambavan available right on hand, and He knew  the history of Hanuman.

So Jambavan addresses  Hanumanji..

I quote from Valmikiramayanam .."  Seeing hundreds of thousands of monkeys standing there miserably at their wits end,  Jambavana proceeded to Hanuman, and addressed him like this, " You Hanuman,  the most valourous one of the monkey clan, you the ultimate scholar of all the scriptures, why are you sitting aloof  and not speaking anything?

You Hanuman, you are equal in all respects to Sugriva the king of monkeys.  You are also equal to Rama and Lakshmana in strength and valour. 

I have seen one great bird by name Gautman (Garuda), son of Aristanemi (Kashyapa).  He flies over the ocean swinging his powerful wings and lifts very big and heavy snakes and serpants  and flies off with ease.  You are not inferior to  him either in strength or ingenuity.  Your hands are as strong and dexterous as the wings of Gaurda.  You are the best, wisest, and most powerful among all the living creatures, and why are you not realizing your own hidden energy?"

The talk of Jambavan must have been the best model for any talk for encouraging some person who has a temporary burnout, but is in fact of immense value to any organisation.  We find such persons in plenty everywhere.  The unorganized energy, the lack of sense of achievement,  a feeling of hollowness about life as a whole, and lack of self-assurance.  If the leader with sufficient authority could motivate such persons into proper and channelized activity, the results can be spectacular beyond expectations.

This happened in the case of Hanuman.  When he was reminded of His glory, he rose up like a lion, roared like a lion and that roar was the death-knell of Ravaneshwara.  The rest is History. 

The lessons we have to learn from Garuda, Hanuman and even Ravana will be dealt with in articles following this.....

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