pachai maamalai pol mene

Showing posts with label kaalidasa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kaalidasa. Show all posts

Saturday, June 06, 2015

Uma, Shankara, Kalidasa and the Environment day..



Today is the Environment Day..

Was just thinking how the Divine Couple Uma and Maheshwara Loved the trees growing in the forests abutting their holy abode, is described by Kaalidasa in the second canto of Raghuvamshamahaakaavyam..

King Dileepa, to fulfil a vow, is serving the Divine Cow Nandini, the daughter of Surabhi the Kamadhenu..
Nandini belongs to the hermitage of sage Vasishta, the preceptor of the Solar Dynasty and therefore of Dileepa..

Every morning Dileepa would take the cow out to forest to graze..

One day,when the king was just immersed devouring the beauty of the Himalayan Flora and Fauna through his eyes, an elephant fell upon the cow with murderous intent..
Dileepa took out his arrow to slay the beast and protect Nandini..

But, as if held under a spell, the king could not move his hands.. and could not use his weapon..
He stood paralyzed.

Then the lion spoke to the king..

The lion first introduced himself as the servant of Lord Shiva named Kumbhodhara.. going around the forest in the disguise of a lion.
He was deputed to protect the trees and the plants of the forest from attack of wild animals..

Further he says,

"अमुं पुरः पश्यति देवदारुं पुत्रीकृतोऽसौ ऋषभ्ध्वजेन।
यो कुम्भस्तननिःसृतानां स्कन्दस्य मातुः पयसां रसज्ञः॥२--३६
कण्डूयमानेन कटं कदाचित् वनद्विपेन्नोन्मथिता त्वगस्य।
अथैनमद्रेस्तनया शुशोच सेनान्यमालीढमिवासुरास्त्रैः॥२-३७
रघुवंशे द्वितेयसर्गे कालिदासः॥
amuṁ puraḥ paśyati devadāruṁ putrīkṛto'sau ṛṣabhdhvajena|
yo kumbhastananiḥsṛtānāṁ skandasya mātuḥ payasāṁ rasajñaḥ||2--36
kaṇḍūyamānena kaṭaṁ kadācit vanadvipennonmathitā tvagasya|
athainamadrestanayā śuśoca senānyamālīḍhamivāsurāstraiḥ ||2-37
raghuvaṁśe dviteeyasarge kālidāsaḥ||

Oh, the Devadaaru tree which you see in front of you is loved by that Lord Maheshwara who has a bull as insignia in his flagstaff.. the Lords affection for the tree is as if it is His own son.. And Uma who is the Mother of Skanda and the whole universe too, has nourished this tree with water fetched by Herself in pots made of gold.. as if she is feeding the tree with milk flowing from her own breasts..

And one day, a wild elephant, feeling itchy all over the body, just barged into the forest and rubbed his back on the barks of the tree, causing damage to the skin of the tree. When, Uma, who saw the damage to the tree as she came to water it, She could not contain her grief and cried aloud as if she was suffering the grief on seeing the injuries in the beautiful body of Her own son Skanda the Supreme Commander of the Gods. . those wounds inflicted by the demons during his successful battle with them..."

Of course, it was only a test to Dileepa to prove his loyalty tho the cow.. and the danger to the cow was removed later..

But the episode in the great Kavyam reveals how the poet and the people in general including the Divinity valued the upkeep of environment..

The mother of the universe Uma is nurturing a tree, and is crying when she sees that a part of its bark is damaged.. The Lord of Lords, Shankara loves a tree as if it is the His own son..

That is why
She is called the Prakriti, and He is called the Pashupati..

What greater tribute can one pay to nature?

Friday, May 22, 2015

The four gems from Kalidasa:--




The four gems from Kalidasa:--

They say that among the poetic creations in Sanskrit, drama is the most enchanting.. 
Among the dramas, Shakuntalam of Kalidasa is the masterpiece.
And the greatest part of Shakuntalm is its Fourth Act,
And the four stanzas appearing in that part of the beautiful drama are sublime beyond any comparison..

Kaavyeshu naatakam ramyam tatra shaakuntalam matham
shaakuntaley chaturtho angaH tatra sloka chathustayam

काव्येषु नाटकं रम्यं तत्र शाकुन्तलं मतं 
शाकुन्तले चतुर्थो अङ्गः तत्र श्लोक चतुष्टयं

The four slokas are explained below

The occasion it the departure of Shakuntala to the Palace of Dushyantha, her husband.. Her adopted father Sage Kanva is sending her away from his hermitage for the first time ..

1.The pangs of separation felt by a father when sending away his daughter is expressed in this sloka

Yasyathyadhya sakunthalethi hrudayam samsplustamutkandayaa
kandah sthambitha bashpavrithhi kalushachintha jadam darsanam
vaiklyabyam mama thaavatheedrusamaho snehad aranyaikasah
peedyanthey grihinah kadham nu thanaya vishlesh dukhaih navaih
यास्यत्यद्य शकुंतलेति हृदयं संस्पृष्टमुत्कंठया
कंठ: स्तम्भित बाष्पवृत्तिकलुषः चिन्ताजडं दर्शनम् ।
वैक्लब्यं मम तावदीदृशमहो स्नेहादरण्यौकसः
पीड्यन्ते गृहिणः कथं नु तनया विश्लेष दु:खैर्नवैः ॥।

Kanva says
Sakunthala starts for her husband’s abode today. Even for a person who prides himself in equanimity and penance, the throat is gone dry and soundless because of anxiety, the thoughts have gone blunt. If such intense sorrow overtakes me a recluse. what will be the depth misery for the wordly father who sends his daughter away for the first time and that too expecting her to spend her life in a completely alien household?

2. That child Shakuntala was very affectionate to the plants and trees of the hermitage, and Kanva is requesting them to bid his daughter Bon Voyage.

paathum na prathamam vyavasyathi jalam yushmaasu apeetheshu yaa
na aadhaathey priyamandanaapi bhavaathaam snehena yaa pallavam
aadhyey vah kusumaprasoothisamayey yasyaah bhavathyutsavah
sa iyam yaathi sakunthalaa pathigruham saarvairanjnayathaam
पातुं न प्रथमं व्यवस्यति जलं युष्मास्वपीतेषु या 
नादत्ते प्रियमण्डनापि भवतां स्नेहेन या पल्लवम् ।
आद्ये वः प्रथमप्रसूतिसमये यस्या भवत्युत्सवः
सेयम् याति शकुन्तला पतिगृहं सर्वैरनुज्ञाप्यताम् ॥

Kanva addresses the trees and saplings of his hermitage, and requests their permission to send Shakunthala who is leaving to join her husband Dushyantha

“she never thinks of even drinking water before watering your roots and quenching your thirst, 
she never plucked your tender and beautiful leaves even though as a hermit girl interested in ornaments they must have been her first target, 
because she loved you so much, she made it a grand celebration when you sprouted the first floweres of the season,
such lovely and considerate Shakunthala is leaving for her husband’s house, oh trees give her a proper send off.”

3. Kanva is sending Shakuntala to the palace of Dushyanta. This is the message he has to convey to the king..
asmaan saadhu vichinthya samyama dhanaan uchchaih kulam cha aatmanah
twayi asyay kadhmapi abhandhavakritham snehaprvrithim cha thaam
saamaanya pratipatthi poorvakamiyam dhaareshu dhrisya twaya
bhagyaayathamathah param na khalu thad vaachyam vadhoo bandubhih
अस्मान् साधु विचिन्त्य संयमधनानुच्चै: कुलं चात्मन-
स्त्वय्यस्या कथमप्यबान्धवकृताम् स्नेहप्रवृत्तिं च ताम् ।
सामान्यप्रतिपत्तिपूर्वकमियं दारेषु दृश्या त्वया
भाग्यायत्तमतःपरं न खलु तद्वाच्यं वधूबन्धुभिः ||
This is my message to King Dushyanth.
Oh King, Please consider the fact that we the people of Shakuntala have no wealth other that penance and patience.. Simultaneously please keep in mind the lofty status of your own royal clan.. This girl has fallen in love and has somehow entered into a marriage with you own her own without taking the counsel of her own relatives. My request to you is that you should treat her with at least moderate affection which you are expected to show towards your wife.. I leave the rest of the matter in tha hands of the goddess of fortune..
The relatives of the bride should not talk anything more than this.

4. While sending the darling daughter to her husband’s abode, this is the advice Kanva has for her

shushroosaswa guroon kurupriyasakheevrittim sapatneejae
bharthurviprakrutaapi roshanatayaa maa sma pradeepam gama
bhhooyishtam bhava dakshinaa parijaney bhaagyeshvanutsekinee
yaanthyevam gruhineepadam yuvathayaH vaamaaH kulasyaadhayaH.
शुश्रूषस्व गुरून् कुरु प्रियसखीवृत्तिं सपत्नीजने
भर्तुर्विप्रकृतापि रोषणतया मा स्म प्रतीपं गमः
भूयिष्ठं भव दक्षिणा परिजने भाग्येष्वनुत्सेकिनी
यान्त्येवं गृहिणीपदं युवतयः वामाः कुलस्याधयः 
My dear daughter, this is my advice to you.
You serve and look after the elders in the family with utter devotion.
Please treat the other wives of your Royal husband as your own dear friend.
Never, never forget yourself and throw tantrums even if your husband vents his anger on you.
Be very generous to your servants and helping hands in your new residence.
Please do not get arrogant, nor exhibit such arrogance, which is likely to follow the great fortunes you attain in life.

And I tell you, the girls given in marriage to other households go on to become the respected controllers of those home by the above process of attuning themselves to the fresh environ there. And the girls who fail to behave properly become eternal source of worry and misery for the clan in which they were born..
.

Monday, September 22, 2014

the five great sins



the five great sins



the five mahapathakams or five  most heinous sins according to Hindu belief are

ब्रह्महत्या सुरापानं स्तेयं गुर्वङ्गनागमः । महान्ति पातकान्याहुः संसर्गश्चापि तैः सह.l
manusmriti 11-54

Killing learned men 
Drinking hooch 
Stealing
 Desecrating the preceptor's bed 

and finally the act of supporting or helping in any of the four acts above..

Yes, we believe that abetting a wrong deed is as bad as committing it.

न केवलं यो महतो अपभाषते शृणोति तस्मादपि यः स पापभाक्

Not only the one who scandalizes or insults others but those who hear that ( and support it covertly or openly ) are also partners in the sin..

This is what Kalidasa puts in his Mahakavyam-- Kumarasambhavam -- in the words of Uma

Friday, September 12, 2014

In a war, there is no victor except death.





शिलीमुखोत्कृत्तशिरैः फलाड्या च्युतैः शिरस्त्रैः चषकोत्तरेव।
रणक्षितिः शोणितमद्यकुल्या रराज मृत्योरिव पानभूमिः॥
॥महाकविकाळिदासविरचिते रघुवंशमहाकाव्ये॥

śilīmukhotkṛttaśiraiḥ phalāḍyā cyutaiḥ śirastraiḥ caṣakottareva|
raṇakṣitiḥ śonitamadyakulyā rarāja mṛtyoriva pānabhūmiḥ||
|ṁahākavikāḻidāsaviracite raghuvaṁśamahākāvye||
A macabre scene of war described graphically by the great Kalidas in his Raghuvamsamahaakaavyam.
The scene is after the swayamvaram of Indumathi with Aja.
The lovely princess Indumathi chose Aja the scion of the glorious race of Raghu as her life partner.
Indeed, there were many kings assembled seeking the hand of the fair lady, and they were all irritated and jealous over the good fortune that visited the beautiful prince.
While he was on his way back to Ayodhya with his newly wedded princess, the group of kings confronted him and a fierce battle followed.
The valorous prince won the battle so naturally..
But Kalidasa describes the piteous scene of destruction that the battle presented at the end of the day.
Kalidasa sees the battlefield as the drinking yard of the God of death.
The heads of soldiers severed from their respective heads and stuck to the tips of arrows looked like ripe fruits to be swallowed by the drunkard, being stuck to the end of a chopstick..
The upturned caps of the dead soldiers seemed to substitute for goblets used for drinking liquor
The dark red blood of the soldiers collected in the shape of a pool provided the big container for drinks.
The field was just the drinking area for that terrible drunkard
And the drunkard was none other than Mruthyu, the God of death himself..
The vivid description of black death by the great poet should be an eye opener to war-mongers of all times.
In a war, there is no victor except death.

Monday, July 21, 2014

simple love

simple love


यस्य त्वया व्रणविरोद्पणमिङ्गुदीनां

तैलं न्यषिच्यत मुखे कुशसूचिविद्दे।
श्यामाकमुष्ठिपरिवर्द्धितको जहाति
सोऽयम् न पुत्रकृतकः पदवीं मृगस्ते।

कालिदासमहाकवेः शाकुन्तले चतुर्थात् अङ्गात्

yasya tvayā vraṇavirodpaṇamiṅgudīnāṁ

tailaṁ nyaṣicyata mukhe kuśasūcividde|
śyāmākamuṣṭhiparivarddhitako jahāti
so'yam na putrakṛtakaḥ padavīṁ mṛgaste|

kālidāsamahākaveḥ śākuntale caturthāt aṅgāt
This is from a scene in abhijnaanashaakuntalam of Kalidasa..

Shakuntala and the hermitage of Kanva are preparing themselves for the inevitable departure of the pregnant Shakuntala to the palace of her husband Dushyanta..

The sage Kanva, the recluse foster father of the young girl could not help shedding tears of separations..

All inmates also silently bid her a tearful farewell..

Even the animals and plants of the hermitage could not brook the idea of this lovely girl leaving them..

A young deer, just stands before her blocking her way..


Kanva says
"Look at  this young deer who is refusing to move away from your path and let you depart..
When this young one got its lips injured through sharp darbha grasses while grazing, you would tend the injuries by smearing oil of ingudi with your soothing hands over the injuries.. Throughout this young one’s life, you would always feed him with green tender ears of Shyamak grass, and he has grown up eating that alone.. He was just like a son to you. How can he let you go?”
Kalidasas poignant depiction of love among all beings.. and especially those who live in the company of pristince nature in all innocence.. should send a great message.

We hardly love anyone to day…
We hardly care for plants and animals..
We can see the plants and animals only as source of food, nothing more..
This is the reason why there is only one Shakuntala, and there is only one Kalidasa

Monday, April 08, 2013

Peaceful Retirement


Peaceful Retirement
A beautiful narration of peaceful retirement.. Described in the great epic poem Raghuvamsam of Kaalidaasa.. The most illustrious king in the race was Raghu.. (though Srirama was also in the line).. Raghu vanquished the three worlds and ruled the earth in all his glory.. A son was born to him.. named Aja.. The prince was equally valorous(He is the father of Dasaratha).. After obtaining proper education and training in arms, the prince was the heir-apparent.. The proud father Raghu was waiting for the moment when the son would reveal his mettle.. It happened during the Indumatee Swayamvaram.. The prince attended the contest of strength to win the most beautiful damsel of that time, Indumati, as his wife.. When he started back to Ayodhya with Indumati, all the competing kings and warriors rose in war against him. The battle is described in great vividity in the seventh chapter of Raghuvamsamahaakaavyam.. The prince shattered the opposition and made a victorious entry to his native land. The father Raghu, learning that the Prince had proved himself worthy to be a king, abdicated the throne and adjourned to forest in search of peace, after anointing the brave son on the throne..Kalidasa describes this in the last stanza of seventh canto
प्रथमपरिगतार्थस्तम् रघुः संनिवृत्तं

विजयिनमभिनन्द्य श्लाख्यजायासमेतं।

तदुपहितकुटुम्बः शान्तिमार्गोत्सुकोऽभूर्

न हि सति कुलधुर्ये सूर्यवंश्या गृहाय॥७--७१

कालिदासप्रणीते रघुवंशमहाकाव्ये
prathamaparigatārthastam raghuḥ saṁnivṛttaṁ
vijayinamabhinandya ślākhyajāyāsametaṁ|
tadupahitakuṭumbaḥ śāntimārgotsuko'bhūr
na hi sati kuladhurye sūryavaṁśyā gṛhāya||7--71
kālidāsapraṇīte raghuvaṁśamahākāvye

Raghu, having seen his son returning in glory after accomplishing a great victory over the enemies, and entering the kingdom in the company of the most praiseworthy consort Indumati, praised Aja over his great victory,
and
Immediately handed over to the prince the duty of looking after the Royal functions  and family traditions and set out himself in pursuit of peace,
For,
The members of the clan of Sun.. Suuryavamsyaa.. never remain at home to rule once they have found a heir who can carry on the duties of the clan and the race with dexterity

The idea of giving up all the glory, power and comforts when one is enjoying all that at their peak and that too voluntary, takes a real character.. Raghu the emperor did have that good sense and power of will..
How many of us can retire gracefully.?.
How many mother-in-laws can voluntarily hand over the keys to the daughter in laws?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

to measure one's own mind



I think the difficulty we face is that we are trying to measure the possibilities lying within our own mind using the same mind.

Just think how difficult it is to cut the knife with the same knife unless we break it into two.

 If it is possible to stimulate some particular part of the mind and shield and insulate  it with something like cellwalls or air-tight separations just like something  we find in vegetable cells and isolate on part of the mind from the other parts of the mind, we may be able to gain greater insights by using that isolated part of the mind in probing the activities of the other parts of our own min. 

.One learned friend was telling about concentration in one of his posts. The aim of the premier concepts of yoga starting from the chittavrittinirodha is aimed at this concentration, but the Endocrinol flows in the biological body often prove to be roadblocks. 

 Chemistry and spirituality get into conflict here. .

 The upward flow of kundalini energy is envisaged somewhat as an antidote to our hormonal flows.
 The famous dhyanamantrm of Viswaroopa shiva.. 
ऋतम् सत्यम् परंब्रह्म पुरुषम् कृष्णपिङ्गलं ऊर्ध्वरेतम् विरूपाक्षं विश्वरूपाय वै नमः
ṛtam satyam paraṁbrahma puruṣam kṛṣṇapiṅgalaṁ ūrdhvaretam virūpākṣaṁ viśvrūpāya vai namaḥ

Here the lord after controlling all his senses is having a flow of semen upward through his Sushumna.
.He is called uurdhwaretaaH..

That is why when Shanmugha was to be born the life energy emanated from Shiva's  five faces and also his Sahasraara face.. 

If people really reach such stages connection with the superior wisdom may be possible-- it is only a speculation.. 

The ancient rishis who discovered mantras including  Gayatri ( they are called manthradhrishtaas) achieved such discoveries by such intense concentration of their own minds with the universal wisdom.. like we do of electromagnetic waves of the various measurable frequencies.
But the difficulty is that even the best of the minds of the yore had only partial experiences, and even when they would have had experiences, such experiences were either not properly documented, or were not capable of documentation and whatever that was documented has been more or less lost.

 The kindling of the intellect by the superior bharga of Savita (is it the Sun we see?) as prayed in the mother of mantras Gayatri reflects the yearning of the human mind to connect with the supreme mind.

 No one can say anything categorically on this point because the experiences may not be similar or complete for different minds. 

Still everyone would have experience some elation or foreboding when some good or bad news is about to arrive.

 These premonitions are also perhaps part of this package.
This is also one of the reason why people are advised to remain optimistic, because negative thoughts originating especially in trained and strong minds can find resonance in some distant superior mind and might bring about the feared catastrophe. 

This premonition is used to great advantage by the astrologers and soothsayers.

Ma and Tha put together makes a word which is holier than the holiest..Maatha... of course it is not the same tha in malayalam..

And  they talk a lot about the hasta mudras, chinmudraas.. etc.
 Jagatguru Dakshinamruthy sit under a Vata vriksha and the disciples sanatkumaras sat around him and they exchanged knowledge in silence.. 
"gurosthu maunam vyaakhyaanam shishyaastu chchinna smashayaaH.". 

Symbols which are perceived by mind need not be vocal or visual.

 We talk about the transfer of energy quanta.. can we define the shape of the quantum? 

We may use some symbol in science, but it is only for the person who have learned the language of that faculty.

 But the transfer of knowledge between the supreme mind and the receptor human mind is direct.. and no platform or operating system may be required for that. 

The mother who has delivered a child a few hours ago communicates with her child.. what is the language or symbol used? 

I think the phenomenon is more important than the mode of communication and the symbols.

.I always feel human beings who arrogate to themselves the possession of sixth sense and all waste more time in the preface, and appendix and bibliography rather that the real stuff governing the core of the matter. 

When will we come out of this scholastic approach? 

What Ramana or Ramakrishna or Radhakrishna or Russel said is less important that the interaction of the mind, and the ideas. 

What is done is more important than who asked me to do it.

The hypothesis is not mine.. It is the primordial idea available in our ancient scriptures.
At the end of every Kalpa the entire world is destroyed. 

The sum and substance of all knowledge which is symbolically the Vedas are withdrawn from the human minds at that stage, and is taken over by the universal puruSa. 

At the beginning of the next Kalpa the Supreme deity is born and also the Brahma. 

But the vedas are not revealed by Brahma .

The sons or manasaputras of Brahma are created, and they are directed to do tapas(penances and austerities) or contemplation and in that contemplation alone the knowledge is once again revealed to them. 


So the creation by Vishnu and Brahma are only putting the foundation and superstructure of the universe. 

The Rishis are given the duties of getting power supply through contemplation.

 Like a NoaHs ark the entire living species are perhaps kept in some place, may be the belly of Damodara but the data base or universal wisdom or knowledge is just stored in some unknown contraption, may be what we call ether or whatever receptacle one may choose to call.. and through concerted mental exercise the newly born Rishis have to revive that knowledge, set up connection between that great source-house of knowledge and the human mind. 

We on earth who have received only maybe very little portion of that knowledge, do not know really  how much knowledge is in store somewhere.

 And if a lucky or great person is born who can connect with greater antennae of mind more effectively with that endless source, he may be able to draw greater knowledge and since the minds of other human beings in the world would find it easier to receive the knowledge channelized through a human mind, such people become prophets, or Gurus, or seers... whatever we call them.

 They are actually like the relaying stations or sorts of transponders.. 

Maybe it is for this reason that we believe that we cannot attain knowledge without the intervention of the Guru. 

The books we read are also our gurus, but as we were discussing at great length , we try to imbibe knowledge contained in books through visual symbols.

 Such symbols have limitations.. 

What is conveyed by such symbols at some point of time may not induce the exact resonance in the mind of the reader sitting in a different frame of space- time.

 But the sadguru uses books, audio signals and more significantly his knowledge base gained through perhaps direct communion  with the universal repository of wisdom and conveys to the disciple all that he has got. 

The supreme burning intellect of a Vyasa, Krishna, Dakshinaamoorthy, or Shankara cannot be explained unless we believe that they were more in sync with the great stored knowledge and wisdom than their peers. 

We can see even from the level of depth of discussion in this thread itself that the capacity to perceive and interpret things is present in varying degrees among the participants. Here the difference is negligible, although.

 And we have to remember that our attempt should be to gain more knowledge than dishing out whatever half-baked ideas we have formed and adding so much of garbage to it.

 I was always mentioning for this reason alone that we can convey to others only hundred words carrying sense, only if we have digested ten thousand words. 

We should be able to differentiate between the signals carrying knowledge and the background noise and static.. as we conceive in the language of electronics.. 

We should be able to apply suitable filters, oscillators and amplifiers. 

These are easy with the known wavelengths of electromagnetic spectrum but when the knowledge is transmitted and received in a bandwidth which we are not able to identify we face limitations.



There is an interesting slokam in Kumarasambhavam.. Parvathi the Uma  when she was a child was being imparted knowledge on Vidyaas .
How strange? She is the Vidhya Herself ..

All the knowledge reached Her  when she in Her form of a little girl  is just  reminded of the treasure  of the knowledge..

The rich poetic imagination of Kalidasa describes this in a very picturesque manner.

तां हंसमाला शरदीव गङ्गां महौषधीं नक्तमिवात्मभासः 
स्थिरोपदेशामुपदेशकाले प्रपेदिरे प्राक्थनजन्मविद्याः
tāṁ haṁsamālā śaradīva gaṅgāṁ mahauṣadhīṁ naktamivātmabhāsaḥ
sthiropadeśāmupadeśakāle prapedire prākthanajanmavidyāḥ


as the swans reach 
Ganga naturally in the Sarat season, the intrinsic lustre visits the great medicinal herbs at night, when she was just  reminded of the vidyaas through proper advise. all the vidyaas of ealier lives  reached her so naturally.. 


This lead to another thought which is not exactly subject matter of this thread.. do we. at the time of birth inherit some wisdom which we have acquired in our earlier lives.. that is to say, our connection with the supreme intelligence is revived to a certain extent when our mind is activated for action after we attain the present birth?

The ideas are hazy..we do not have empirical proof for the existence of a super brain connected to mundane brains. I do agree. 

But regarding the tenets of religion, if we go into the basic core of any religion the principles evolved would be more or less the same.

 The procedures and rituals, and later interpolations causing strife among believers are all only peripheral additions.

 But the similarity in thoughts manifesting in various time frames and various geographical areas could be simply attributed to the identical brain structure, logical patterns and other common features obtaining across the whole human race.

 The religion is basically one thing.. there is someone other than the group of humans who is in control..the extent of control, the form of control etc may vary from religion to religion, schools of thoughts within the religion, and even some atheists and agnostics have directly or indirectly subscribed to the idea of existence of a collective superior being.

 I think howsoever we argue, we may not reach any finality in this matter because our thoughts are created essentially by this mind matter and what we call logic is for the die hard seeker of proof only materials which can be perceived and proved by the human senses with the mind presiding over it.
The question whether there is anything above and beyond the perception of mind and sense organs cannot be answered sitting in our restricted frame of reference. 

This may be the reason why the Great Logician, Krishna the blessed lord, concluded his Gita with a call to Arjuna that he has expounded the various aspects of the philosophy which he is fairly confident to be representing the truth and supporting the logic.

 But then He leaves it to arjuna to take a choice between accepting it or rejecting it 
"Yadechchasi tada kuru.. you do what you think is right.".
 this is the greatest advice that has come from the Lord and Master that is Krishna. We have the power to accept or reject.


The storage of the super intelligence in any particular medium or in any form should  not be   the core issue..If that is what you are searching for, you will never reach any particular location. 

 The loud thinking is that there is some repository of all that is to be ever known and the cognitive faculties in the living creature..with five, six, seven or eight senses can connect (strangely we do not know how, but such connections do occur)  with that storehouse and draw from it according to the receptive capacity of the beings.

 This thought in some form or other is present in philosophy, spirituality and may be in a muffled way in science. It would appear that even super brains like Hawkings and Einstein speculated on this.

 If we are missing the core issue and are discussing on the modalities, we can discuss for ever and ever with each one us  pulling in diverse directions of his own. 

  In fact the Vedic speculations like Naasadidya suuktham do not reveal anything definite.

 The Vedic man just looks up at the expanse of the vast universe and utters many speculative words in awe.

 I do not think we have proceeded much from that state even now.

 We are insignificant creatures before that great force which is beyond any definitions. We have to shed our ego and prejudices if we are  to think freely.



Sunday, June 24, 2012

what else can an outcaste do?

Once the great poet Kalidasa who adorned the court of the equally illustrious King Bhoja, had a tiff with the king and was excommunicated from the Kingdom.

Without knowing where to go, the poet was wandering in the outskirts of Dhaaraa city in the disguise of a beggar mendicant.

King Bhoja, even though he had taken the rude action in a fit of rage was very downcast having lost the company of his dearest friend and the immortal poet.

He was confident that if he spread a half completed poem भ्रष्टस्य कान्या गतिः॥

 through his emissaries who would circulate it everywhere, the poet could be identified because of the genius in the poet would be exposed in his urge to fill up the missing parts.

The following sloka was the result.

भिक्षो मांसनिषेवणम् किमुचितं? किं तेन मद्यं विना
मद्यम् चापि तव प्रियं? प्रियमहो वाराङ्गनाभिः सह।
वेश्या द्रव्यरुचिः कुतस्तव धनं? चौर्येण द्यूतेन वा

चौर्यद्यूतमपि प्रियं न भवतो? भ्रष्टस्य कान्य गतिः॥

bhikṣo māṁsaniṣevaṇam kimucitaṁ kiṁ tena madyaṁ vinā 

madyam cāpi tava priyaṁ priyamaho vārāṅganābhiḥsaha| 
veśyā dravyaruciḥ kutastava dhanaṁ cauryeṇa dyūtena vā 
cauryadyūtamapi priyaṁ na bhavato bhraṣṭasya kānya gatiḥ|| 

the question: you the mendicant, does it please you to eat meat? 
The answer: Indeed it is, but how can the pleasure be complete without hooch? 
the question: Do you relish drinking toddy too? 
the answer: Yes, I love to drink, and more so in the company of prostitutes
the question : The prostitute is avaricious for money, 
from where can you get such big money? 
the answer : I have to earn wealth through robbery or play of dice. 
the question : So robbery and gambling are your favourite occupations, is it? 
the answer : What other way of life is left for the one who is excommunicated? 

The great poet was identified and welcomed back 
personally by the King Bhoja with Royal Honours.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

all is well that ends well

क्ळेशः फलेन हि पुनर्नवतां विधत्ते ।।

when incessant hard toil is rewarded by matching restults, it gives impetus to futher attempts.

this is a simple but very true statement  by Kalidasa. 
This remark appears  in Kumarasambhavam. 
 The Divine mother is born as Parvathi and she is yearning for reunion with her Lord Shiva. 
 With this desire in mind, she set out to the forests in the valleys of Himalaya and set up a hermitage and started doing penance. 
 A vibrant, beautiful and affluent girl blessed with all virtues and wealth and having the whole world offered to her as if in a platter for mere enjoyment, gave up all the pleasures of the world just to attain the company of her Lord. 
 It is remarked by Kalidasa in the words of the Sakhi of Parvathi... 
" This girl. having attained marriageble age, has rejected all the affluent suitors starting from the Lord of Gods, Indra and the masters of the directins, but is intent on having Pinakapani the Shiva as her husband, in spite of realizing that the Lord has simply annihilated the lord of love, Kamadeva..
इयं महेन्द्रप्रभृतीनधिश्रियः चतुर्दिगीशानवमत्य मानिनी
अरूपहार्यं मदनस्य निग्रहात् पिनाकपाणिं पतिमाप्तुमिच्छति॥
iyaṁ mahendraprabhṛtīnadhiśriyaḥ caturdigīśānavamatya māninī
arūpahāryaṁ madanasya nigrahāt pinākapāṇiṁ patimāptumicchati||

Shiva had reached the hermitage of Parvathi to test her and receive her (the Lord is disguised as a young initiate) and Parvathi's friend tells Him in desperation.
" the saplings which were planted by this girl as souvenirs of the start of her penances have all borne fruit, but the plant of this girl's desire to attain the company of Shiva does not appear to have even given out little sprouts.. and the chariot of imagination of her communion with the Lord is a non-starter "

द्रुमेषु सख्या कृतजन्मसु स्वयं फलम् तपः साक्षिषु दृष्टमेष्वपि
न च प्ररोहाभिमुखोऽपि दृश्यते मनोरथोऽस्याः शशिमौलिसंश्रयः॥
drumeṣu sakhyā kṛtajanmasu svayaṁ phalam tapaḥ sākṣiṣu dṛṣṭameṣvapi
na ca prarohābhimukho'pi dṛśyate manoratho'syāḥ śaśimaulisaṁśrayaḥ||

The Lord was listening to all this with keen interest and was blissfully happy, but he pretended as if the girl was doing the most foolish thing by opting for Shiva. 
 He tells that girl that she is so rich and beautiful and Shiva is a wandering mendicant clad in the bark of an elephant, wearing matted hair and snakes as ornaments and his chariot was an old wizened bull.  
He adds that the whole world would laugh at her if she committed the blunder of accepting of all the people, Shiva as the husband . 

Parvathi is enraged. She is hurt by the sarcasm and she feels that not only one who tells ill of the great people but also one who happens to hear of it, becomes a sinner.

न केवलम् यो महतोऽपभाषते शृणोति तस्मादपि यः स पापभाक्
na kevalam yo mahato'pabhāṣate śṛṇoti tasmādapi yaḥ sa pāpabhāk

Then in impossible rage, the young girl simply tells that she is going to withdraw from the presence of the foulmouthed youth.. (shiva in disguise)
She started going away in haste, and the bark of trees which covered her bosom just fell away and even without caring for it she tries to make a quick retreat.
 But enough was enough. Thinks Shiva 

  The lord with the bull as insignia in his flagstaff could not persist with the playful activities.
 He simply assumed his Regal form and caught Parvathi by her Hand.
इतो गमिष्याम्यथवेदि वादिनी चचाल बाला स्तनभिन्नवल्कला
स्वरूपमास्थाय च तां कृतस्मितः समाललम्भे वृषराजकेतनः
ito gamiṣyāmyathavedi vādinī cacāla bālā stanabhinnavalkalāa
svarūpamāsthāya ca tāṁ kṛtasmitaḥ samālalambhe vṛṣarājaketanaḥ


He says, 
"from today onwards, I am your slave, as you have purchased me though your sincere penance.. 
Then, and at that point itself, all the tiredness and physical debilities she had imposed upon herself left her and she was jubilant and was in the seventh heaven of happiness. 
 When even unbearable hard work  culminates in its expected result, the body and mind gets rejuvenated and one  forgets all the past tiredness. 

अद्यप्रभृत्यवनताङ्गि तवास्मि दासः क्रीतस्तपोभिरिति वादिनि चन्द्रमौलौ
अह्नाय सा निय्मजं क्ळममुत्ससर्ग क्ळेशः फलेन हि पुनर्नवताम् विधत्ते॥
adyaprabhṛtyavanatāṅgi tavāsmi dāsaḥ krītastapobhiriti vādini candramaulau
ahnāya sā niymajaṁ kḻamamutsasarga kḻeśaḥ phalena hi punarnavatām vidhatte||

All is well that ends well.


--

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Analogy between thought process and data on a disk

The basic idea in deleting a data is only removing its header address.Unless and until a new data is taking over the incapacitated area, the old data remains there sleeping. Then the individuals receptacles that keep the zero and one signals are too accommodating and make the first set of data quiescent and another set of data which is having address and is recognizable becomes prominent. It is only because such units have sufficient space where some sort of cell is charged with a small unit or electricity or is kept not charged. So the medium is already there. The charging or discharging of the elements of the disk only takes place. and the electron is infinitesimally small so also the positive charged particle. When the disc is formatted a huge surge of current makes the entire disc blank. Even this can be done by going through the process about 19 times. So the memory signals actually go nowhere. They are just siiting in the background. If the thought process is retrieved through some means the whole thing comes back again. The deleted data does never vanish fully. The sum and substance of this analogy is that one thought, once created does not die away.. It is only living concealed. That is why we use mantras with auto suggestion, like Gayatri. To force in positive thoughts. While describing about the spontaneous study process of child Uma parvathi in the house of Himavan, Kalidasa said..
 तां हंसमालाः शरदीव गङ्गां
महौषधीं नक्तमिवात्मभासः।
स्थिरोपदेशामुपदेशकाले
प्रपेदिरे प्राक्तनजन्मविद्याः॥
काळिदासः कुमारसंभवे


Taam Hamsamaalaa shardeevaa gangaam,
 mahaushadiim nakthamivaatmabhaasaH, 
 sthiropadesaam upadeshakaale prapedirre 
praakthana janmavidhyaaH.. 
for her, like the crowd of swans reaching ganga spontaneously in the sharat season, like inherest glow visiting the herbs at night, when she was advised, the knowledge and education of earlier life (of Dakshayani Sati) came back spontaneously. Such comeback was caused by the fact that originall thoughts never fade away, unless erased through sterile means.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

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...

Saturday, December 17, 2011

love for nature

One of the four slokas in the fourth Act of Abhijnaanashaakuntalam--
all the four  slokas constitute the quartet of the most sublime creation in Sanskrit Kavyaas...

kaavyeshu naatakam ramyam tatra shankuntalam matham shaakuntale chaturthongaH tatra sloka chatushtayam... 

which touched the vitals of my softest feeling is this

पातुं न प्रथमं व्यवस्यति जलं युष्मास्वपीतेषु या
नादत्ते प्रियमण्डनापि भवताव् स्नेहेन या पल्लवं।
आद्ये वः कुसुमप्रसूतिसमये यस्याः भवत्युत्सवः
सेयं याति शकुन्तळा पतिगृहं सर्वैरनुज्ञायतां॥
कालिदासमहाकविकृते अभिज्ञान्शाकुन्तळे चतुर्त्थे अङ्के
paatuM na prathamaM vyavasyati jalaM yuSmaaswapiiteSu yaa
naadatte priyamaNDanaapi bhavataav snehena yaa pallavaM.
aadye vaH kusumaprasuutisamaye yasyaaH bhavatyutsavaH
seyaM yaati shakuntaLaa patigR^ihaM sarvairanuj~naayataaM..
kaalidaasamahaakavikR^ite abhij~naanshaakuntaLe chaturtthe a~Nke

Shakuntala is scheduled to leave for the abode of Dushyanta, her husband. Her foster father Kanva is utterly desolate.. even the hermit as he is, he is not able to endure the pangs of separation.. he wanders around the plants and trees which Shakuntala had tendered with affection for all her life.. He addressed them and say,
"You the plants and trees of this hermitage, give permission and blessings to Shakuntala who is leaving for her husband's house.. You know, she never ventured to drink water before your roots were all watered and your thirst was quenched. For a young girl growing up in the hermitage the natural adornments could be only your tender leaves. But out of very deep love for you, she never could bring herself to pluck even a tender leaves of yours although her natural desire to adorn herself attractively was immense. When any one of you sprouted a new and fresh flower, she was so happy that it was like a joyous festival for her. That Shakuntala is leaving you for ever today."

A lover of plants and trees and mother nature can utterly realize the affectionate bond between that beautiful young child Shakuntala, who herself looked like a bright wild creeper and the plants of the hermitage which were to her like her own siblings, or children.
I feel a greater lover of nature than Kalidasa was never born.. There are so many examples, but to me this is the best.


--

jagatah pitarau vande

The famous argument that parvatii paramaewarau mentioned in the first stanza of Raghuvamsam of Kalidasa is not merely  siva and parvathi  but it is worshiping the two deities or couples  paarvatiipa rameshwarau पार्वतीप रमेश्वरौ. If this is so the poet is stating that the parents of the world are  the lord of Parvathi, Shiva, and Rameswara the vishnu.. which will in turn lead to the Sankaranaryana tattwa, the mohini episode in purnaas and upto even Saasta.. historically these ideas were not alien in Ujjain of Kalidasaa's time. Basically the idea whether word and its meaning would match only if they are attached through a female- male combination is only speculative. The union between the male and the female is the most perfect one is a reality. We can find that phenomenon in the birth of any living thing.. cloning does not create a new living being but is only a splitting of cells to make replicas. It is poetic, and even social custom to attribute things soft to the female and the tougher things to male. Life, literature on any facet of life becomes well-rounded and proportioned if the content has the right quantity of softness and toughness. The combination of prakriti and purusha, shiva and shakthi.. all these concepts reinforce this. And the greatest attraction in beings is between the negative and the positive (negative and positive are very relative concepts..in physics negative charge means excess of electrons.. it is queer to call some state of abundance as negative), but any man if he is to inhabit meaningfully in a set environs, needs the company of a woman and vice versa. If word is the female and the meaning the man, then their compatibility would be greatest if we consider their gender affinity. Would it mean that the female is only the word and the meaning lies in the man? I dont want to create a domestic schism anyway. The word and meaning are inseparable held together.. like parvati- shiva, lakshminaryanana or Shankaranarayana..that is the greatness of the poet. And the second is the longevity of the affinity between the vaak and artha.. the best way is for them to be a male and female to be very close. in nature man and man may be close for a very short time, so also female and female, but when the union is between man and woman, the bond is very deep.. and they will manage to be close most of the time albeit some occasional quarrel and fist-fight.. Such quarrels we see in bad literature of all sorts. Even in music we can reach the rhythm only with talam and ragam and layam.. The talam is maintained by the tough instruments usually of the percussion type.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Can the Mother ever countenance the idea that Her child should fall at Her feet in agony?




सर्वतीर्थात्मिके सर्वमन्त्रात्मिके सर्वतन्त्रात्मिके सर्वयन्त्रात्मिके सर्वचक्रात्मिके सर्वशक्त्यात्मिके सर्वपीठात्मिके सर्वतत्वात्मिके सर्वविद्यातिमिके सर्वयोगात्मिके सर्वनादात्मिके सर्ववर्णात्मिके सर्वशब्धात्मिके सर्वविश्वात्मिके सर्वदीक्षात्मिके सर्वसर्वात्मिके सर्वगे हे जगन्मातृके पाहि मां पाहि मां पाहि मां देवि तुभ्यं नमो देवि तुभ्यं नमो देवि तुभ्यं नमः॥
॥कालिदासविरचिते श्यामळादन्डके  श्यामळायाः सर्वात्मकत्ववर्णना॥
sarvatīrthātmike sarvamantrātmike sarvatantrātmike sarvayantrātmike sarvacakrātmike sarvaśaktyātmike sarvapīṭhātmike sarvatatvātmike sarvavidyātimike sarvayogātmike sarvanādātmike sarvavarṇātmike sarvaśabdhātmike sarvaviśvātmike sarvadīkṣātmike sarvasarvātmike sarvage he jaganmātṛke pāhi māṁ pāhi māṁ pāhi māṁ devi tubhyaṁ namo devi tubhyaṁ namo devi tubhyaṁ namaḥ||
|kālidāsaviracite śyāmaḻādanḍake  śyāmaḻāyāḥ sarvātmakatvavarṇanā||

In a remote abode of Matha Kali, the infinite Grace of the Divine mother is poured in a torrent on an illiterate goatherd and he pours out His heart in praise of the Mother..
the torrent of inspired words of Kalidasa is the Shyamala Dandakam  breaks loose ... the above is the description of the universal presence of the Mother.


You occupy all the waterspots,
all the holy chants,
all the tantric rituals,
all the yaantric rituals,
you occupy  all the chakras from Mooladharam to Sahasraaram,
you are the manifestation of all the Sakthis,
you are the occupant of all the peedams,
you manifest in the art and science of yoga,
you are the source of all musical sounds,
you manifest yourself if all letters,
whatever sound we hear is your manifestation, 
you stand spreading the entire universe, 
you are the bountiful result of all vows, 
and you are the all (the whole or sum and substance) in what we call the whole,
you are the material being dwelling in all that is in the universe, 
you the mother of the whole universe, 
you protect me, you protect me, you protect me,
Mother,
 pranaams unto you, pranaams unto you, pranaams unto you


The meaning given above is very rudimentary.  The various words like manthra, tantra, yoga, varna  all have very deeper meanings.  And all have been discussed in huge volumes after volume.  But ultimately we have to fall on her feet and  seek Her protectio....Can a mother bear the idea of her child falling on her feet?
May her motherly love raise us to eternity

--

--

Friday, September 09, 2011

Poachers,Mata Sakthi Loves the tress you are killing.

कण्डूयमाणेन कटम् कदाचित्
वन्यद्विपेनोन्मथिता त्वगस्य।
अथैनमद्रेस्तनया शुशोच
सेनान्यमालीढमिवासुरास्त्रैः॥
कालिदास्महाकविकृते रगहुवंशमहाकव्ये
kaṇḍūyamāṇena kaṭam kadācit
vanyadvipenonmathitā tvagasya|
athainamadrestanayā śuśoca
senānyamālīḍhamivāsurāstraiḥ||
kālidāsmahākavikṛte ragahuvaṁśamahākavye

In the second chapter of Raghuvamsam, King Dileepa is going to forest to do service to Nandini, the daughter of Kamadhenu, the Divine Cow,  He was serving her with all devotion But as luck would have it somewhere is the forest a lion sprang upon the Divine Cow with murderous intention.  The alerted king tried to  strike down the lion with an arrow by as if by magic, he could not move his hands.  The lion says that He is one of the members of the expert servants of Shiva specially deployed to guard the forest and so he could not attack him against the powers of shiva and shakthi..  He explains the backgroud for posting such guadrd.
"Once a wild elephant whose skin was itching, just rubbed his body on the bark of a lovely tree in this forest.  The merciful mother Parvathi, when she visited the forest and saw the darling tree shedding her juices like blood through the wounds caused by the elephant, was so overwhelmed with sorrow and she cried as if she was seeing hew own darling  son the Valorous commander-in-chief of the army of Gods, Subrahmanya was shedding blood from wounds suffered in the battles with the demons."
 The Lion goes on to explain that he was depolyed to guard the forest from such mishaps and so on


The crucial point to note that even Parvathi loved Nature and the Plants and trees in the forest as herown children. The poachers and destroyers of the forest, have you ever heard of it.  Kalidasa was not only a poet but also a jnani.. He would not write a lie about what the Divine Mother spoke or felt.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|