Mrutyormaa Amrutham Gamaya

The Maha mrutyunjaya manthra presumes Mruthtyu as a natural process.. like cucumber escaping or just falling off from its creeper when it has reached its full growth, the body of any living being has to fall down and decay.. See the common root for Mruthyu, Mrithika.. yes, we can borrow the idea from bible also.. what has come from soil or much.. mrutthika has to go back to mud.. or to the panchabhootaas.. represented by the most apparent pruthvi. or earth. But inside that dried up cucumber there lie dormant hundreds of particles of expectant life in the form of seeds which indicate the continuity of life process.. from the dead part of the vegetable that finds oneness with the mud, when other natural forces like water, air, heat etc intervene, the life in the seed is woken up..

we would have heard the rhyme

In the heart of a seed,

Buried deep so deep.

A tiny plant,

Lay fast asleep.

"Wake," said the sunshine,

"And creep to the light."

"Wake," said the voice,

Of the raindrops bright.

The little plant heard

And it rose to see,

What the wonderful,

Outside world might be.

So our prayer to Lord thrayambaka.. the three eyes of Him representing the Sun, Moon and the Fire, and he is fragrant.. he represents the sense organs, He is the nourisher.. pushtivardhanam.. we offer him oblations.. may He be pleased to accept us as the body is ripe and requires a recycling,, may he Viswamoorthy take us into his own being in the shape of the five elements .. but we believe there is something immortal in us which belongs to him.. let him preserve it for ever.. it is the amrutatwam of the soul... Brahmani me aatama amrutatwaaya.. may my soul rest in the supreme being and attain immortality.. is our daily prayer a number of times.. it is also echoed in mahamrutyunjayam..

The word thrayamabaka is verily interpreted as the three eyes of the Lord, as well as the three arrows of the lowr.. which are bhu, bhuvaH and suvah.. then again it is mother nature that the Lord represents.. As kalidasa rightly put ;it.. the eight forms of the Lord are..

The famous prayer of Kalidasa in Shakuntalam..

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 is the prakriti who mothers the whole life..the mother earth...

Lord Ashtamurthi the shiva who manifests in these eight forms may bless us.

In purushsooktham they say

tam yjanam barhishi praukshan...

yajnena yajanamayajantha devaah..

tasmaad yajnaad...

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

Let us also ponder why Krishna or Vishnu is addressed as Vishwam

viswam vishnur vashatkaro...

guruvayurappan is the whole universe Viswam.. and not the granite idol.. which is only an icon.

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

Opinions can vary..

The spirit of mahamrityunjayam is reflected in the upanishadic manthra

Mrutyormaa Amrutham Gamaya,,